A Rose By Any Other Name
by potato42069
Summary: Cursed to lose his human form, finding love is the last thing Prince Tadashi expects. But when the aspiring inventor GoGo exchanges her own life for her aunt's as prisoner, things look less bleak for the kingdom. (Or would, if not for the tiny problem of her utter stubbornness.) / Beauty and the Beast!AU. Tomadashi.
1. Prologue

**A/N:** Back at it again! I really enjoyed writing my The Little Mermaid AU, and since I have a three-day weekend, I took a shot at writing another fairy tale AU, this time Beauty and the Beast. I'm going to make this one a little closer to the Disney film, but I've still made changes according to the characters and set this in a more vaguely industrial age. I hope you enjoy!

* * *

Some say you can hear anguished cries in the castle. They say they are the spirits of the king and queen, who departed the world so many years ago.

Others would argue the castle has been abandoned for years, and that it is an old wives' tale told to warn children not to wander too far into the forest.

The truth, however, was buried so long ago that nobody thought to uncover it - or cared. It told of the princes, the elder of which was meant to take the throne after the sudden deaths of their beloved parents. It told of the wounded old woman who sought refuge in their grand castle and their benevolence, offering her healing and a safe haven in midst of the blizzard.

The old woman soon revealed herself as an enchantress who found their generosity most useful. She took every advantage of it, manipulating the princes and their servants to meet her every need and desire. The younger prince, who longed for escape from this, slipped poison in her drink one night in hopes of sickening her enough to regain control of their lives and their kingdom.

The enchantress with her magic was not afflicted, of course, but she had certainly known what the young prince had done. As punishment, she lay a curse on all those residing in the castle, particularly the soon-to-be king for failing to properly bring up his brother and subjects. She raised a forest as a barrier between the world and the castle. With him, she left an enchanted mirror and her most cherished rose. To break the curse and be free to reign his kingdom, the elder prince was prompted to bring someone into the castle to fall in love with him before the rose wilted and the last petal fell.

This would not have been a difficult task had the enchantress not transformed him into a hideous monster, sure to frighten anyone who dared to look. After all, she thought with a smirk before she left, who could ever love a beast?

...

GoGo Tomago would never leave the cottage if she had the choice. Alas, her baker of an aunt seemed to need groceries quite frequently. Furthermore, the library was on the other side of town. Of course, her name wasn't _really_ GoGo Tomago and her aunt wasn't _really_ her aunt. "Tomago" had come from someone mishearing her surname (Tanaka), while the villagers had seemed to coin the nickname "GoGo" from the way she rushed back and forth between the library, the market, and her home.

The woman she called Aunt Cass had taken her in as a ward after her parents had been lost in a fire. Neither were too comfortable at the prospect of Cassandra being a mother, so "Aunt Cass" worked just fine. Not that GoGo spoke too frequently, anyway. She hadn't since the fire.

To avoid smalltalk and awkward greetings with the other villagers, she would bury her nose deep into her book as she strode down the cobbled path, pretending she couldn't hear the fleeting whispers and gossip of the town.

"Look, there she goes!"

"That girl is strange, no question!"

If it wasn't constant reading and walking, it was the silence. (Most of the villagers thought she was mute for a while.) If not the silence, then the dyed streak in her hair on which Aunt Cass insisted on changing the color every month or so - just another one of her quirks. If not the streak, her short stature or the fifty pounds of groceries hauled on her tiny shoulders or rude demeanor. Either way, every hushed criticism was the same.

"Look, there she goes, that girl is so peculiar."

"I wonder if she's feeling well!"

Distantly she thought she heard a loud bang and looked to the source. Grey smoke lifted into the sky, indicating Alistair Krei was on one of his hunting expeditions again. GoGo scoffed and continued along her way. It was only a few moments later that she felt the book snatched out of her hands and her eyes met a leering man with slicked hair and a rifle slung on his back.

"Good morning to you, little lady," he greeted in an oily voice. When GoGo merely responded with a blank stare, he began flipping through the book. "Hrrm. _Technological Advancements Throughout The Ages._ "

Muscles tensing, GoGo pressed on her tiptoes and swiped the book back, safely tucking it under her arm and unapologetically glaring at Krei.

"Touchy today, aren't we? I do hope you've rethought my offer - "

"No," GoGo said firmly, glancing over his shoulder for her aunt's bakery just down the street.

" _No?_ Goodness, girl, you're wasting an opportunity! I've seen the work you put out, the innovative ideas flying out of your head a mile a minute! In such an industrial age, it'd be such a waste of a talent to not work for _my_ factory - "

"I don't care." Leave Aunt Cass? Slave away for someone else for the rest of her life? Never.

"Now, GoGo, surely you don't want to babysit your loony aunt forever."

GoGo felt her stomach churning, and without a moment's thought she grabbed her book and raised her arms as high as she possibly could, whacking him in the head. She had just enough time to scurry back to the bakery while Krei moaned and clutched his head as onlookers tut-tutted and scowled in disapproval of the foolish girl.

...

The little maiden had to shove her way through several customers who shouted, "Hey, watch it!" in frustration, but she was still infuriated by that tycoon's behavior and wasn't in a mood to apologize.

"Hey, sweetie," Aunt Cass greeted, pulling fresh buns from the oven. "Got those groceries I asked you for?"

GoGo dumped the bags on the counter where other loaves and pastries rested and dusted off her black dress.

"Uh-oh. What's wrong now?"

"What _isn't_ wrong with that ward of yours?" grunted a middle aged man, taking some sourdough bread. "Perfectly marriageable age and all she does is stick to her books! Speaks not a word!"

"I'd watch what you were saying if I were you," Aunt Cass cautioned, narrowing her eyes at him.

"She's pretty enough is what I'm saying," he retorted as he started for the door. "Shame to waste it."

The door slammed, hitting the bell above it. When the last of the ringing stopped, GoGo slumped on the stool by the stove and kettle, book dangling in her hand.

"You've read that book twice," the baker remarked, propping up an arm on the counter. "And I'm pretty sure I saw an overdue book on your desk."

Her ward shrugged.

"I'm surprised they don't just hand ownership of the library to you by now. Are you even done with half the ones you've borrowed?"

"Just finished yesterday," she mumbled, tracing squiggles in the crumbs.

Aunt Cass sighed. "Krei giving you a hard time?"

GoGo flicked one of the crumbs in response.

"Working for his factory doesn't sound too terrible, you know. Sounds perfect for you." She knocked on the oven. "Would've cost a fortune to buy a new one if you hadn't fixed the ol' girl up.

"But that's not what I want!" GoGo blurted. "What am I supposed to do? Machine maintenance? Give him complete reigns on all my ideas? That's stupid! I want more than this provincial life, Aunt Cass! I have to leave this dump - " She stopped herself, watching her aunt's expression. "I didn't mean it that way."

Her aunt only smiled fondly and mussed her hair. "I didn't raise you to keep you cooped up here forever, you know." She reached for one of the sweet rolls on display and tossed it to GoGo, who stared at it. "Eat! I know how much you like 'em."

GoGo juggled it between her hands awkwardly before popping it in her mouth. She then brushed the bread crumbs off the counter and into the bucket of leftover or burnt food meant for the pigs.

"I have some more ideas on building passenger-carrying machines," GoGo mumbled, "if you'd like to see."

Aunt Cass took her ward's hand and patted gently. "I'd love that."


	2. The Exchange

**A/N:** The update is here! Thanks to those of you reading the story already and leaving nice reviews - they give me a lot of inspo to update faster, and I appreciate y'all taking the time to write one! I hope you guys like this AU as much as the last.

* * *

"Ginger?" GoGo asked, frowning.

"Oh, relax, it's just a three-day trip. You've held up the bakery on your own for longer," her aunt reassured, shoving the last of GoGo's herbal books in her satchel.

GoGo bit her lip. Yes, but this time Krei was in town, and she had little reason to escape to her room if Aunt Cass wasn't handling the shop.

"And besides, wouldn't gingerbread just be an _outstanding_ item to add to the list? I've always wanted to try a recipe! Spice things up a little, you know!"

The ward sighed. Of course she would take such lengths on just a whim. She'd never call her aunt crazy as the other villagers often did, but she had to admit her aunt could be a bit... unconventional. Mostly she worried about finding ways to evade Krei. On the other hand, it was embarrassing to keep hiding behind her auntie's skirt like a child. She merely nodded, resolving to handle him with force if necessary.

...

Cass looked at the road ahead, then at her map, then back to the road. She squinted as if that would confirm whether this was correct or not. The sky had turned from a warm orange to a cold, dark blue a while ago, and despite her lantern, the forest path was difficult to discern. It twisted and winded, and it didn't help that the autumn leaves scattered across it and she couldn't tell what was path and what was dirt.

Regardless, the horse carried her along. The wind was starting to howl and she felt her teeth chattering. She was sure they were completely off the path now, because the woods had thickened. After more wanderings, however, the spaces between the trees widened. An opening! She hurried through, a grin lighting up on her face. Perhaps there was a town nearby she could seek shelter in.

But as the horse galloped through the opening, she found herself standing in front of now a town, but tall rusted gates entrenched in vines. Beyond that, stone walls, weeds sprouting ubiquitously. She leapt off her horse and let her eyes trail the walls all building up to... a grand castle! Untended, but a castle regardless. She ran up to the gates and shook them rapidly until at last they cracked open with a long and eerie _creeeaaaak_.

Clutching her cloak, she dared to push open the doors and venture into the castle. At once she started coughing. Everything felt musty, and clouds of dust popped at her feet. All the way on the other side of the room sat two thrones, but the cushions had torn and the legs were so thick with dust it was difficult to make out what color they once were. She gazed at the ceiling at least ten feet in the air, where a chandelier coated in even more dust dangled.

"Hello?" she called. Her voice echoed. "Is anyone in here?"

Instantly she head something scampering across the carpet and gasped.

"Hello?" she repeated with just a bit more panic in her voice. When no response came, she assured herself it was probably just a rat. Relaxing her grip on her cloak, she took a few steps closer to the thrones before feeling a sudden _bang_ followed by a blunt pain in the back of her head.

...

Her head was still throbbing when her eyes fluttered open and she felt her body resting against something cold, hard, and damp. She lifted her head and gasped, finding rusted bars in front of her. Beyond that lay only darkness. She grabbed at the bars and shook violently, desperately.

"Help!" she screamed. But she froze when she heard the whispers coming from the shadows. Her heart pounded wildly. Who were they? Ghosts? What would they do to her? And... GoGo! What would happen to poor GoGo if she died right here?

"W-who are you?" a deep voice rumbled.

"Please let me out!" she cried.

"Answer my query! Who are you, _intruder?_ "

"Intruder? Oh, n-no! I beg your pardon, I-I was absolutely not trying to intrude! I'm just a baker! I was lost and... and... I only wanted to go for ginger, sir..."

"Lies!"

"No, I swear it's the truth! Please, you have to let me out, or my niece, she'll - "

"I'll take no more of your - " The voice stopped talking and for a moment Cass wondered if they were just going to kill her regardless. She heard more whispers. "Did you say niece?" the voice boomed again.

"Y-yes, sir..."

"Er... and how old is this niece of yours?"

"Eighteen, sir..."

"Hrmph..." More whispering. Just how many people were there? What _was_ this place? "Um... Is she good-looking, this niece of yours?"

Cass thought this was an odd question, but the voice no longer sounded ominous. The speaker seemed to have toned down quite a bit. Still, she responded cautiously. "I suppose so..."

"Does she have... any kind of hobbies?"

Why did they care about her niece so much? "Well... She likes to read. She's also an engineer of some sorts? There are blueprints all over the house. But why - ?"

"All right!" More whispers. A congregation, perhaps. "You will remain in this dungeon for the time being. Stay put and no harm will come to you - _ow!_ Fred, for the last time, that is _not funny_..."

As she heard footsteps scattering off, Cass supposed fear should have struck in her heart, but the threat seemed so half-hearted she couldn't really expect more than a splash of water to the face. Instead she brought her knees to her chin and stared up at the ceiling, cracked and crumbling.

"Oh, GoGo," she whispered. "I'm so sorry."

...

A little girl in braids squealed about how the cookie was shaped _just like_ a puppy and smelled like raspberries. "Look!" she gasped, waving it in front of her mother who thanked GoGo. The baker merely gave a two fingered salute before mother and daughter walked out of the store, jingling the bells once again. On the windowsill, the cat Mochi waved his tail impatiently. With a chuckle, GoGo tossed him one of the cracked cookies, which it snatched with glee.

She wiped the sweat off her brow and closed the oven, reaching for a rag. At that moment she heard the bells jingling wildly and footsteps storming in. Her heart nearly stopped. Haltingly she turned to the front, confirming her worst fears. Krei.

"Ah, baking. Perfect use of your talents, wouldn't you say?" he asked with a smug grin.

GoGo glared fiercely at him and reached for the knobs on the stove. She held her gaze at him as she turned it up so high fire blasted out from behind her (she thanked the lucky stars she kept her hair short) before dying down to mild flames.

"Yikes. Feisty as always."

Still she did not tear her eyes away and regarded him like a challenge. She began tapping her foot as if it were a countdown.

"Oh, GoGo. For a mind as brilliant as yours, you have _absolutely_ no foresight. Think of the _potential_ \- "

She grabbed the broom and pretended to sweep. Surely it would make him pop a vessel to see a potential cash cow choose custodial duties instead. The corners of her lips curled upwards in pleasure as she watched him his fists clench and the skin around his throat tighten.

"Don't get haughty with me, girl. You are in know place to act with such pride! I know who you are. Do you truly believe I wouldn't hear the village gossip?"

Her grip on the broom tightened and she started to tremble.

"What good was it to fetch you out of the fire and stick you with such a _completely_ incompetent woman? I suppose your parents couldn't have been too wise to get themselves in such a disarray - "

" _OUT!_ " she screeched, raising the broom and climbing over the counter. His eyes flew open and he hastily started to back away in shock. " _GET OUT!_ "

"N-now, young lady, let's be reasonable - " In an attempt to find the doorknob behind him, his palm slapped Mochi's tail. Now the cat yowled and rapidly sprung on the man's face, clawing and hacking while he yelped in pain. As he stumbled back, GoGo yanked the door open and stretched out her arms for the cat to hop into before slamming it back shut. From the window she watched as the pathetic man scurried away, not daring to look back.

She held Mochi a few inches away from her and stared as the cat nonchalantly licked its own paws. After a sigh of relief, she blew a raspberry. "Can you believe that?" she asked through gritted teeth. "That is one _persistent_ son of a - "

A sudden neighing cut her off. Aunt Cass! Back so soon? She nearly dropped the cat as she sprinted out the backdoor and into the field, spotting the horse. Thrilled, she ran further until she saw the empty seat. She cocked her head to the side in confusion. Was Aunt Cass playing another one of her games? Well, she wouldn't fall for _that_ again. Light on her feet and hidden in the tall grass, she crawled around the animal and waited until the last moment to jump out. Still her aunt didn't appear.

It was then that she noticed something stuck in the reigns - a tiny scroll. Curiously, she plucked it out and unrolled the worn paper.

 _If you wish to see your beloved aunt alive, you will come to us alone._

 _The horse knows the way._

...

Krei storming into the bakery! Aunt Cass getting kidnapped! GoGo, it seemed, just had the _dandiest_ life. Closing up shop would undoubtedly cost them business and frustrate Aunt Cass, but what a trivial problem compared to her aunt's life! Luckily their neighbors liked them (or their baked goods, at least) enough to tend to the farm while they were away in exchange for free food for the next week.

The horse indeed seemed to know the route and understood the gravity of the matter, as he galloped more hastily than GoGo had ever seen him. When night fell and the wind started to nip at her cheeks, her steed carried on through the thick forest, finally slowing to a stop before a great castle.

She didn't have time to admire it. "Is this where Aunt Cass is?" she asked to no one in particular. When no answer came, she kicked the gates until they burst open and fled into the castle, cloak trailing behind her.

"Aunt Cass?" she hollered. Her only response was her echoes. She ventured deeper into the hall, tracing her fingers across the cracked marble pillars. Who was keeping her here? And why? "Aunt Cass!"

This time she saw something blunt fly at her and stifled a shriek as it knocked into the pillar and collapsed onto the carpet. It had narrowly missed her by the ear. Wrapping her cloak around her body more tightly, she knelt to the floor and tentatively reached for the object. It was a cold stone with a wrinkled paper tied to it. Holding her breath, she scanned the room for anyone else before she pulled out the paper.

 _To your left. Keep moving. The dungeon will be down below._

Dungeon! She crumpled the paper and felt her face redden with fury. Whoever this was... _Whatever_ this was... They would surely regret their actions once she was through with them.

She followed the instructions and strode to the left, past the thrones and the white busts with missing heads. The moment she stepped further into the darkness, however, it seemed she had triggered something because little flames began lighting up in a ripple, revealing the way. Candles! But no one should be able to light them that fast. She flipped her hood back on, wondering if who was watching.

Towards the end where the candlelight ceased, she found an opening to stairs leading underground. To be certain, she leaned forward.

"A-Aunt Cass?" she called hesitantly.

"GoGo?"

Her hands flew to her mouth and she immediately sprinted down the stairs, finding her aunt crouched on the cold concrete floor clutching bars.

"Aunt Cass!" she gasped with relief, falling to her knees and grabbing her aunt's hands.

"Oh, GoGo, I knew you would come, you stubborn thing."

The girl rummaged through her satchel, at last pulling out a hammer she'd taken from her toolshed. "Hurry, we need to go home - "

"And do you think you will escape with our prisoner so easily?" a voice boomed.

GoGo turned around and held up the hammer defensively, looking for the source. "Who's there?" she called.

"Your aunt is hereby our prisoner for trespassing onto our property!"

"Well, how was she supposed to know anyone was in here? I'm sorry, but your cleaning skills are _crap!_ "

"You see, guys? I told you we should have made Jack - _ow!_ Okay, okay, okay!" The voice cleared its throat and went on, trying to sound more composed. "It matters not! For her insolence, she will stay here _forever!_ "

GoGo heard clanging and gripped the hammer more tightly. Despite her trembling, she glared intensely into the shadows. She would not let them intimidate her. She had not, however, expected what had emerged - knives and swords leaping out on their own and encircling her. She blinked several times to make sure she was seeing correctly.

"Well? What will it be, child? Will you leave with your life, or will you let your aunt meet her demise?"

The weapons repositioned themselves to point directly at her and inched closer. What was this? Illusions? Sorcery? She must be dreaming. GoGo looked back at her aunt, whose jaw dropped in shock, then back at the weapons. They were merely a foot away now.

"Wait," she said, dropping the hammer. "What if... what if I took her place?"

"GoGo!" Aunt Cass gasped.

The voice seemed taken aback as well. "W-wait... You'd do that?"

"Just let my aunt go. Please."

The speaker responded almost suspiciously fast. "Very well. Gina, take her out."

"GoGo, what are you _doing?_ " Aunt Cass cried as one of the knives dug into the keyhole and opened up the bars. Something else emerged out of the shadows - a walking wardrobe. What _was_ this place? The wardrobe flung its doors open and marched over to Aunt Cass, scooping her up and slamming the doors shut.

"No, wait!" GoGo screamed as the wardrobe mercilessly shoved her into the cell and one of the swords swung the bars back into place. Her heart pounded as she heard muffled screams and protests from inside the wardrobe. "Aunt Cass!" She stuck her arm through an opening and fruitlessly made grabbing motions. "Aunt Cass!"

...

Upstairs, in one of the tallest towers of the castle, a tiny cup with a chip on the rim grumbled as it hopped into the room. In front of the fireplace rested a large chair with velvet cushions. The cup cleared its throat before speaking to the figure sitting in it.

"Hey, big brother," the cup said cheerfully. "You'll never _guess_ what's happened today."


	3. Be Our Guest

**A/N:** Hello, readers! School is keeping me busy but it has not stopped my sinful hand and so I have the next chapter. Thanks for the reviews, they encourage me like always!

* * *

 _When her eyes fluttered open, everything was blurry. She could make out a mop of brown hair and some bright lights. She blinked again, and everything started coming into focus - the hair belonged to a woman who gaped wide-eyed at her. The eight-year-old girl tried to roll her head over to get a better idea of where she was, but twisting her neck hurt. Something felt tight around her forehead, too. She reached a tiny arm up to feel whatever it was. It made her wince, but she felt some kind of gauze. Her fingers also brushed against some of her hair, which no longer surpassed her shoulders._

 _"You're awake," the woman sighed, relieved. "Oh my goodness. Oh my goodness."_

 _"What..."_

 _Flames burst in her vision and it all came back to her then. The smell of smoke. The fire racing across her home. The screaming._

 _A loud cry erupted from her as fat tears rolled down her cheeks and she gave into sobbing. She cried and cried and didn't stop wailing even when her throat started feeling sore and her tears had only left a dry, sticky smear on her face. All the while, the woman pulled the child into her arms and rubbed her back sympathetically._

 _She later learned the woman's name was Cass and nodded when asked if she would like a fresh batch of sweet rolls._

...

GoGo shuddered heavily as she curled up in the corner, hood draped over her head. She didn't care if those... _things_ could see her or not. She would not cry, and she wouldn't give them the satisfaction of seeing her cry. Those monsters hadn't even let her say good-bye to Aunt Cass. Now she never would.

From the shadows once again she heard a voice, but this one was more high pitched and cheerful. "Ooh, the prince is coming!"

"Honey, would you just let me - " She recognized this as the first voice.

She heard squeaking coming from the dungeon entrance. Desolate as she was, she couldn't help but peek from under her hood in curiosity. So this castle had a prince. Was he a real prince, or was that just some nickname? Were these... _things_ his servants? Perhaps he was a sorcerer of some sorts. That would explain the walking knives. But surely he couldn't be a pleasant prince with such horrid servants.

As the squeaking grew louder, she braced herself for the worst. The figure emerged from the door, then stopped. It kept squeaking. She heard groans. Confused, GoGo pulled her hood off entirely and poked her head out as far as she could between the bars. Squeezed in the doorway was some large white entity with two black circles on the head and a line connecting them. The squeaking continued with few lapses in between to the point where they were nearly headache-inducing.

Was that thing _stuck?_ GoGo realized. And what _was_ it, anyway?

The creature stopped squeaking at last, but suddenly she heard air deflating and stared dumbfounded as its skin started to shrink and sag. When at last it could fit through the doorway, the air blew up and inflated it again. It waddled closer to the cell, where it waved.

"Hello. I am Baymax."

"Bro!" an adolescent voice cried.

A little clinking sound soon followed. GoGo looked in every direction in the room until her eyes landed on the floor, where a tiny chipped cup rested. A cup wearing a face. She stifled a gasp.

"Brother, for the last time, that nickname is _never_ going to catch on."

What seemed to be eyelids lowered on the thing's face so it seemed to have a single line on its face. It looked as if it were squinting - or was it glaring? It soon turned back to GoGo, whose jaw had gone slack.

"Well... I'm Prince Tadashi. And this is my brother Hiro."

She was dreaming. She was most definitely dreaming.

The fat white creature cocked its head to the side. "And you are...?"

"The lady earlier called her GoGo," the cup explained. "But she hasn't really said anything since the lady left."

The cup had called that creature his brother. Did that make the cup a prince, too? Prince of _what?_ Queen Abigail ruled the kingdom! Last she'd ever heard, the Queen had no children. There was something wrong with this place. Horribly, horribly wrong. She kept watching as the creature took a rusty set of keys from a walking broom (a walking broom!) and unlocked the cell with a _click!_ Immediately GoGo thought about bolting, but remembered her promise. Aunt Cass could still be in that wardrobe for all she knew, and what would happen to her if she ran away?

"Well," he announced, awkwardly poking his chubby index fingers together. They made squeaking noises as they did so, and it drove GoGo up the wall. "I suppose you'd like to be taken to your room now?" He offered his hand to her.

GoGo wanted to slap it away, tell him she would rather die in this dank, filthy cell than accept anything from monsters like him. She probably would have if not for Aunt Cass trapped in the wardrobe. As it was, she clutched her cloak and rose to her feet, striding past him with her nose in the air. She would go to her room but not accept an ounce of help from that creature. She had that much of her dignity left.

She couldn't quite tell what the creature was thinking, blank face and all, but he did not speak another word as he led her out of the dungeon and up the massive, swirling stairs. Only squeaks from his skin filled the silence. Despite her situation, GoGo thought how inconvenient it must be to ascend them every day and wondered if there was a way to make stairs move, or even just carry people between stories. If she were home, she could make a note of this and write out the possibilities in detail. She would share her ideas with Aunt Cass, who would gladly go out and buy materials and leave her be to labor on this project, coming in occasionally to drop off drinks or bread.

No. She wouldn't - _couldn't_ \- think of that now.

At last, the creature stopped at a grand white door with intricate gold designs dancing across the border. Upon pulling it open, GoGo's jaw drop. She couldn't help it - the room had to outsize her own cottage! A spotless crimson carpet that would have overjoyed Aunt Cass. A full size bed with silky golden sheets and gauze curtains hanging overhead. Dressers and wardrobes massive enough to fit a family. Beyond that, a glass window towering above them with full view of the castle garden. (The garden, of course, was barren.)

"It's one of the smaller rooms, really. But the whole castle can be yours to explore. Everything except the west wing - I'd, er, really appreciate it if you didn't go there."

In her dirt-caked cloak, GoGo felt out of place facing such luxury. There was something about its tidiness as well, despite being unoccupied. No clutter of notebooks or crumpled papers in the corners. No bolts and hammers and blueprints strewn across the floor. No tossed sheets and pillows that her aunt had nagged her to clean a thousand times. Her heart ached for her humble cottage and the enticing smell of baking bread more than ever.

"Er... You can join us for dinner later if you'd like," the creature said. "Please enjoy your stay here."

GoGo's face flamed. Enjoy her stay? _Enjoy her stay?_ Her teeth clamped down her her lip and her fists clenched. This monster had taken her aunt and imprisoned her forever, and he wanted to tell her to _enjoy her stay_. When she didn't dignify him with a response, he merely shut the door and left, squeaking all the way.

Alone at last, GoGo shoved the end table out of her way, knocking it into the carpet with a clatter. She then kicked off her shoes and threw herself onto the bed, grabbing pillows and hurling them at the wall in a rage. She shrieked and screamed as she tore down the curtains before clutching her head and letting the sobs erupt from her chest. Her entire vision blurred, and her anguished cries drowned out any clinking sounds she may have heard.

 _Clink. Clink. Clink._ "Oh, dear, don't cry!" This voice was feminine.

Oh, God, what else was alive in this room? Regardless, she did not lift her head. They didn't deserve it.

"You were so brave. I'm sure your aunt would be proud!"

That wasn't the point, now was it?

"I admit Wasabi may have been a bit... aggressive. But I assure you he's quite gentle most of the time! In fact, most of those words weren't even his!"

"So you're just going to sell me out like that, are you?" This was the voice who had coerced her into trading places with her aunt. Much as she dreaded it, her curiosity piqued. What was he?

"Aww, your dramatic re-enaction was so wicked!" Another voice, this one raspy.

"It's re- _enactment_ , Fred."

"Re-enaction is German for acting!"

"it's really... not," said the feminine voice.

"Don't test me and my hot flames of fire, friend!"

Out of the corner of her eye, GoGo saw a light flicker. The room warmed just the tiniest bit, too. Just slightly, she raised her head and found three objects before her - a teapot, a clock, and a candleholder.

Gleefully, the teapot hopped over. "Pleased to meet you, dear! My name is Honey Lemon. The clock over there is Wasabi, and the candles - "

"Fred at your service, m'lady," the candleholder said, bowing deeply. Disgust rippled throughout GoGo and she had an unsettling feeling she disliked him already. She scrambled back, keeping an eye on the flames.

The teapot's eyes softened. "Oh, please don't be frightened, we promise not to hurt you."

The clock, too, shifted uncomfortably. "The prince isn't really bad, you know."

When she didn't respond, the three objects exchanged nervous glances.

"Well, I suppose we ought to help get dinner ready," the teapot sighed. "Come on, Fred."

The candleholder hopped out the door behind the teapot, leaving only the clock, who wrung the blocks GoGo assumed were his hands. "Well... you ought to get dressed for dinner. You can't wear that filthy robe all day, and black I'd say is _quite_ a depressing color."

Her body went immobile. What were her options? Refuse to speak? Starve? The wardrobe chose that moment to swing its doors open, and GoGo saw that she had a face as well.

"Well! I do think you'd look quite nice in gold, really brings out those lovely auburn eyes of yours," the wardrobe declared. "But purple is really daring and matches you more, I feel."

...

Prince Tadashi paced back and forth in front of the fireplace anxiously. He'd never been so conscious of his squeaking; living with just his brother and the other servants made it easy to forget, but it'd been so long since he'd entertained a guest he hadn't considered it. Then again, who else knew about the curse besides the Queen?

"You could at least wear a suit or something!" his brother said, hopping impatiently on the dinner table.

"I don't know, Hiro. Are you sure this is right?"

"Oh, but your highness!" Honey Lemon gasped. "Haven't you considered she might be the very girl to break the spell?"

"I have!" the Prince protested. "But after all that's happened, how is she supposed to... you know? I mean, we threw her in a prison cell and sent her aunt away - "

"How many times do I have to tell you?" Hiro huffed. "Her aunt deliberately intruded into the west wing and tried to steal the rose!"

"It's not like the girl did it, though." Tadashi stopped pacing. "She's innocent. And how could the aunt really know what the rose was, anyway?"

"T-that doesn't make stealing any less wrong," the cup argued, eyeing Honey Lemon, who pursed her lips into a tight frown.

"Just give it a chance, will you, your highness?"

Tadashi scratched the back of his head - an odd habit since he had no nails and hadn't felt an itch in about a decade. "But even so... how could she ever love me? She's..." For a rare instance, he thanked the enchantress that he couldn't blush in this form. "She's beautiful, and I'm..."

"A _stud_ ," Fred finished, jabbing at the Prince's arm from the shelf above the fireplace. "I mean, _wow_ , look at _you!_ The ladies love that... uh... bald thing these days."

"You do have a very gentle soul," Honey Lemon encouraged.

"Yeah, women just go nuts over that prissy mushy boy thing," Hiro added, inspired. "So stand up straighter!"

Tadashi obeyed. A flood of commands came in.

"Stop fidgeting!"

"Don't squeak!"

"Take small bites!"

"Smile!"

Tadashi squinted his eyes at Fred, who flashed a floppy grin. They soon heard the door creak, and his heart leapt as he turned his attention to his guest. Instead of a human girl, however, Wasabi hopped out hesitantly. The center of his face now bore a prominent dent.

"So... uh, funny story," he stammered. "S-she's... not coming."

" _What?!"_ screeched everyone in the dining hall, save the Prince.

The objects that gathered at their guests' door may as well have been a mob despite Wasabi's desperate warnings.

"That girl is _vicious!_ " he insisted to his fellow servants. "Please, let's just switch her with someone else - "

"This is the first time in a decade anyone has wandered into this castle!" Hiro snapped. "We are not risking this just being some idiot is being difficult!"

The Prince trailed somewhat reluctantly along. When he politely knocked on the door, no one responded.

"Hello?" he asked. "I-I was wondering if you were hungry..."

 _BANG!_ Everyone jumped back.

"See, I told you!" Wasabi hissed.

"Darling, everything's been prepared already - " one of the frying pans said.

"Just come down to eat!" yelled a broomstick.

Soon everyone was yammering at once, Hiro especially.

"Stop!" Tadashi ordered. When the servants quieted, he took a deep breath and spoke to the young lady again. "Um... Listen, I understand if you don't want to come out. I'm sorry for everything's that happened today. I really am." Still, the room was silent, she had to still be there. Light leaked out from the crack under the door. "We'll have the food put away if you're still hungry later."

The servants' jaws dropped in disbelief as their Prince sulked and dragged his feet away.

"What about you?" Hiro called after his brother.

"I'm not so hungry either."

...

GoGo had not budged from the bed since she first threw herself into it. Perhaps, she thought, this was all a horrible dream and if she fell back asleep, she'd wake up from it soon. As it was, her stomach rumbled and she could practically hear it echo. She clutched it, as if that would somehow make it stop.

She rolled over. How long had it been since she'd refused their invitation? The creature said he'd leave the food out. And surely nobody was still up at this hour. It wouldn't hurt to sneak out and grab a bite, she supposed. She could even sneak the rest of the food back.

Slipping into her shoes, she pushed the door open and tried to recall what the dining room looked like. They'd definitely passed it on the way to her room. She glided down the stairs and kept her eye out on every opening until at last, at _last_ , she spotted a candlelit hall! Eagerly she dashed over and gasped as she laid her eyes on the feast. Juicy steaks, fluffy mashed potatoes, fresh buns, platters of fish, tall bottles of wine, and countless others. Her mouth watered, and as she reached for one of the sliced apples, the teapot jumped.

"Oh, you're here!"

No! No, no, no, no! Outraged, GoGo swiveled on her heels and made a break for the exit before several other items (dishes, pans, and a clock) barred her from leaving.

"Don't leave just yet!" one of the plates begged.

"We have to speak with you!" cried a voice from the table. She turned back and spotted a chipped cup by the teapot. The Prince's brother, if she recalled correctly. "Please just hear us out."

GoGo swallowed. Of course. She was in the dining hall again, and the knives might come back.

"I'm sorry for how we treated you earlier," the cup continued. "Not just when you were in your room, but in the cell."

"I apologize, too," the teapot added. "I know you miss your aunt dearly."

GoGo's chest ached more than ever, but she felt just a bit of her fury ebbing away.

"I was far too harsh on you," the clock mumbled, eyes ashamedly glued to the floor.

Like a ripple, the other objects began murmuring their apologies as well, and some asked if there was anything they could do for her. GoGo brought her palm to her forehead, which felt drained and light.

"I'm a little hungry," she croaked.

"She talks!" the candleholder cheered.

"Quick, call for the Prince - " the teapot cried.

"No!" she burst. "I... I would rather eat by myself. If I can."

Murmurs and confused glances. When her stomach rumbled once again and the girl felt as if she would give out right then and there, the candleholder hopped onto the table and thrust his arms at the steaks.

"Well, by all means," he announced, "be our guest."


	4. Good Meals and Awful Kings

**A/N:** A busy few weeks, but finally got this chapter done. Thanks for the nice reviews!

* * *

Despite having only a small sample of the entire meal, GoGo's stomach was bulging within minutes and she couldn't bring herself to reach for another drumstick.

"Well?" the clock - Wasabi, she supposed - asked expectantly.

"That was _really good_ ," she said genuinely, swirling her fork in the leftover mashed potatoes. She knew she would regret not finishing it later, but the stuff would just come right back up if she tried to swallow any more. She turned to some of the other bouncing objects. "Did you make all of this?"

"Aye, I did," grunted one of the spatulas. A ladle jabbed at him. "Well... a lot of it. I was the head chef around here, see."

"Was?"

"You definitely overestimated the amount of food she'd eat," Wasabi said.

"Oi, I've only ever cooked for the Prince these past ten years!"

"What, so none of you can eat?" GoGo asked. As soon as she said it, she realized it was a rather stupid question. Who'd ever heard of a clock with a digestive system? Still, it wasn't every day you met normally inanimate objects with faces.

"Oh, no, no, we're _enchanted_ objects, dear," the teapot named Honey Lemon giggled. "Only the Crown Prince can eat, since he's a... well... we're not quite sure _what_ he is... Come along, then, let's get you back to your room!"

As she slid off the seat she looked back longingly at the food, which some of the servants were already beginning to carry it away. Were they bringing the rest to the Prince? Or were they storing it for some other time? It would be atrocious to waste such a fine meal. Nonetheless, the cup, teapot, candleholder, and clock tugged at her skirt and led her out the door.

She strode up the stairs quite easily, but she eyed the objects as they jumped along beside her. Ten years, they'd said. Surely they were accustomed to it, but they still panted every few steps and Wasabi especially appeared to struggle with all the cogs and machinery in his body.

"Here," she mumbled, kneeling down and offering her arm to them.

"Oh, no," Honey Lemon protested, "I couldn't - "

"All right!" the cup cheered, throwing himself into her palm.

GoGo nudged her arm at Honey Lemon, who bit her lower lip before relenting and climbing onto her shoulder. Wasabi thanked her graciously, clutching onto the crook of her arm (and he certainly was weighty, but no more than the groceries she brought home every weekend). She agreed to hold Fred in her hand at the risk of any of his candles burning her.

"Do you ever think of finding an easier way to get up the stairs?" she asked.

"If we knew any, do you think I'd be putting myself through this torture?" Hiro replied sarcastically.

Annoyed, she began to lower him down.

"No, wait! You have such a... gentle soul?"

She snorted and rolled her eyes, but carried on into her quarters. She watched attentively as she lowered them to the floor and dusted themselves off. Whatever anger she held on so tightly to moments ago ebbed away. Perhaps she gave in too easily, but a part of her was also fascinated by this place and exploding with questions.

"What are you, exactly?" she asked. Did the question come off as rude? She decided she still had enough annoyance left in her to not care.

"To be honest, we're not too sure either," Hiro answered earnestly. "All we know is that stupid witch - enchantress, whatever she is - "

"Witch?"

"I think it's best we explain to her from the beginning," Honey Lemon suggested. And so, after some clamoring, they told the story of the enchantress who cursed them.

"You tried to _poison_ her?" GoGo said, shocked at the tiny little cup who really couldn't be more than an adolescent.

"Not _poison_ her," Hiro protested. "Just get her sick enough so she'd have to be sent back to wherever she came from and stop ordering us around."

"That's poisoning."

"Well, I wasn't trying to kill her!"

She very nearly pointed out this situation was technically his fault, but decided that was going too far. "Well, I'm not surprised she cursed you," she muttered instead, pulling her knees up. "You guys aren't exactly the nicest bunch."

"Hey, we're not always like that!" Wasabi protested.

"Uh-huh. Is there a way to break it?"

"Pardon?"

"Because, you know. Curses always have to be broken somehow."

"Well..."

"Gee, I wish I knew," Hiro said hastily, "but the enchantress didn't lay it on us before she, you know, cursed us. So, uh, if there _is_ a way..."

GoGo pressed her hand to her mouth to suppress a yawn. Her eyelids felt heavy, but she still had a million queries.

"Let her sleep," Honey Lemon said softly. "It's been a long day."

"I'm not - "

"Hey, we can always chat tomorrow," Fred chirped.

"I have some nightgowns right here," said the wardrobe, swinging her doors open once again.

Feeling as if her body was weighing her down, she nodded with another yawn as the servants wished her good night and hopped out the door.

...

 _BANG!_

GoGo sprung from her bed with a start, clutching her chest and breathing heavily as she turned to the door. Honey Lemon strode in with a chipper, "Rise and shine! Time for breakfast!"

The wardrobe swung its doors open. " _Do_ pick a more cheerful color, would you? Pink would be wonderful!"

The girl blanched.

"Ooh, what about _red?_ " Honey Lemon chirped.

"Goodness, no! That's too daring, and that should be reserved for a more - " The wardrobe eyed the girl cautiously.

As they argued back and forth over the color of dresses, GoGo peeked in the wardrobe herself (was this a strange thing to do?) and rummaged through the clothing. At last she spotted a simple lilac dress and plucked it out, weighing the fabric in her palm. A cotton skirt, fitted waist, sleeves just about her elbows. Color aside, not too different from what she would wear at home. It matched her streak and oh, what Aunt Cass would say if she saw her wearing a color other than black for once.

"That's so bland," the wardrobe complained.

"I think purple's just the loveliest color!" Honey Lemon squealed. "Hurry and get ready, will you? You must have breakfast with the Prince!"

...

"Remember, she doesn't know anything about the curse!" Hiro hissed.

"Really?" Tadashi asked as he pulled out a chair for himself. "I assumed she'd have _some_ questions about a talking cup."

"Haha. You done? I'm talking about how to _break_ the curse, you stupid sack of shit."

"Hiro, _where did you learn that word?_ "

"Not the priority right now!" Hiro snapped as Wasabi prepared the rest of the dishes and whistled innocently. "You can slap me silly when we're back in human form because honestly, doing it while I'm still a cup is just all kinds of unfair. How old do you think I am, anyway?"

"Your Highness!" Fred cried, bursting into the dining hall. "Your guest is coming!"

Hiro, Wasabi, and the other servants scrambled to their places while Tadashi pulled his seat in and straightened his back (as much as he could, anyway), folding his hands together and squeaking all the way.

The guest - GoGo, was it? - entered and took her seat at the other end of the table, pointedly keeping her eyes off him. Her hair was neatly combed and her dress hugged at her waist nicely, and Tadashi wanted nothing more than to run and hide in such an awkward form. She didn't seem terrified or even angry as she had last night, although her eyes flickered with eagerness when she spotted the food.

"Um, good morning," he greeted, anxiously squeaking his fingers.

She acknowledged him with a nod for a good second before returning to the feast set before her. Ravenously, she reached for helpings of bacon, scrambled eggs, sausages, and fried potatoes and piled them on her plate. He watched in fascination as she wolfed them down, wondering if she'd ever had a meal before in her life.

Beneath the table, Tadashi felt several servants nudging his legs. He cleared his throat. "You... have a big appetite." He heard groans follow.

GoGo didn't seem to mind. She merely nodded as she scarfed down more sausages.

"Um... the food is good, isn't it?" What a dumb question. Why would she eat so much otherwise?

Their eyes met as she smacked her lips. Was she still angry? Well, it wasn't like she'd thrown any of her eggs at him.

"Are you going to eat?" she asked.

She'd spoken! He'd never heard her speak before. "Oh! Oh, yes." He reached for some of the eggs, but his rubber skin screeched horribly against the table, making her cringe. He shoveled a few helpings onto his own plate and pulled back into his seat, embarrassed to death. The noise, unfortunately, did not cease as he brought the food to his mouth, opening the line between his eyes. When he chomped down, he caught the girl staring.

"Sorry," he apologized. "I wish I could do something about the squeaking."

She returned to her breakfast. "Don't care," she dismissed, although she rapped her fingers across the table.

"So... er, how do you like your stay so far?"

"Food's good." Suddenly she flicked her fork to the table and narrowed her eyes at him. "So what is the deal with this 'Prince' thing?"

"P-pardon - ?"  
"Are you really a Prince?" she pressed. "Because as far as I know, the Queen doesn't have an heir."

"I-I - "

"Is it just some fancy title? How come I've never heard of you before?"

"How old are you?" Tadashi asked.

She furrowed her eyebrows. This wasn't the response she'd been expecting. "Eighteen."

Eighteen. She didn't seem old enough to know anyway, but still. He rested his chin on his hands, but stopped when that started to squeak as well. "Well, we've been cursed for about ten years. I doubt you would have heard anything."

"Anything about _what?_ Were you dethroned or something?"

"No," Tadashi insisted. He felt a flicker of warmth in his cheeks and tried to change the subject. "Look, that's not important - "

She shrugged. "I suppose it doesn't matter. You would have made an awful king."

The heat intensified and Tadashi was starting to see what the servants were complaining about. He slammed his palms on the table and glared at her. "What would you know? You've been nothing but hostile and sullen since you got here!"

"Oh, gee!" she burst. "You people imprison my aunt for no reason and drag me here to pick her up and kidnap me instead! That's every peasant's dream, you know!"

"What right does that give you to act as if you're some expert on something that happened _ten years ago?_ "

"Your Highness, please!" Honey Lemon cried.

"Again with the ten years? I would have been - " GoGo stopped talking and looked away. Tadashi felt he must've stepped on a land mine because she immediately rose from her seat without so much as a glance at the rest of her meal. "I'm leaving." To the frustration of the servants, she fled back to her room.

The flame died. Tadashi slumped back in the seat, rubbing his face. "I messed up."

"Yeah, you did," Hiro admitted. "But to be fair, she's mean, too."

"She got upset about ten years ago, so maybe something bad happened when she was six," Fred suggested.

"Ten y - Fred, she would have been - " Hiro stopped when Wasabi tapped his shoulder and shook his head.

"Just let it go," he whispered.

Honey Lemon primly hopped closer to the Prince. "Learn to relax," she instructed. "Don't ask so many questions about what she thinks about the castle. And don't get too into detail about the curse if she asks. It'll only remind her about what's happened. Ask about _her._ "

Tadashi rubbed his arm. "But won't she get angry about her aunt?"

"Well, surely not every memory is connected to her aunt! Ask about her hobbies. What kind of things does she like? And more importantly, what kind of clothing is she interested in? What I would give to give her a decent makeover - "

"Honey!" Wasabi hissed.

"Well, she can't reject all my ideas forever!"

"Tell her about how much you like monster stories," Fred added.

"I don't like monster stories," Tadashi said.

"Well, why don't you?!"

"That's not a bad idea," Hiro said. "Talk to her about yourself. Maybe then she'll stop thinking of you as a freak of nature."

Ignoring his brother's insult, the Prince thought about it. Yes, it was possible this strange form made it impossible for them to connect, but if he could prove to her that there was indeed a human side to him, perhaps something could work.

"But what if she starts acting rude again?" Tadashi thought aloud.

"Then control your temper!" the servants yelled.

Before they could get out another word to him, a flurry of bobby pins stampeded throughout the kitchen, squealing and shrieking.

" _OH, WHY_ \- I keep telling Danforth and Nicholas to _keep their trainees_ \- " a plate fumed.

"Perhaps you should go tell them," Honey Lemon said.

"Right... _Dan! Nicky! Your bobbies!_ "

...

Here he was at the door again. In his rubber hands, he held one of the novels he'd taken from the library. It had to spark some kind of conversation? But what if she didn't like books? Perhaps they could discuss hating novels. But he didn't hate novels.

 _Shut up, Tadashi,_ he thought to himself. He would have to do _something_. Hesitantly he knocked his squishy fingers against the door and cleared his throat. When she didn't answer immediately, a slight panic rose in him. What if she was still angry? What if she never wanted to come back out? What if -

At last the door slowly creaked open, Tadashi anxiously anticipating each second. The guest poked her head out with a wrinkled nose.

"Er... hello," Tadashi greeted, waving.

"What do you want?" she snapped.

Tadashi flinched, but he held out the book. She stared before gingerly accepting it. "Well... we didn't get exactly have the best start this morning and I was thinking..."

She snorted derisively.

He huffed. "All right. I understand. I was being unfair this morning and yes, I would be an awful King. I know that. It's not a position I'm vying for anyway. So you can keep the book, and I won't ever bother you again - "

"Wait," she said suddenly.

What now?

"I chose to be here," she said firmly. "Er, in that... I volunteered to be here in place of my aunt. So it was partially my choice, too." She looked away and clutched the book more tightly. "I'm sorry for being rude this morning. Staying angry hasn't exactly helped me, anyway."

That was about the last thing he'd expected. He watched her stunned.

"So what was it you wanted to say?"

Tadashi shuffled awkwardly. "I shouldn't have yelled at you like that."

"Water under the bridge."

"No, I really shouldn't have." He cocked his head at the book. "I just wanted to know... do you like reading?"

She peered at the title, and her eyes widened. " _The Lady's Conquest?_ "

"It's one I'm particularly fond of, but I understand if you're not really interested..."

"This is one of my favorites," she interrupted. If he wasn't mistaken, the corner of her mouth tweaked.

"I have an entire library in the east wing if you're interested," he said cheerfully.

This time GoGo smiled genuinely, and her entire face softened. It was warm, inviting. And he'd be lying if he said it wasn't a bit dazzling. "I'd love that."

Excited, the Prince beckoned her to follow him, and it seemed neither of them minded all the squeaks.

"So could you explain this Prince thing for real on the way?"


	5. The Box

**A/N:** Life happens but alas, the next chapter! Thank you for your lovely reviews.

* * *

"So you're the Queen's relative?" GoGo asked. "You don't look alike."

"Not by blood," the Prince answered. "She married my cousin. My uncle was my grandfather's second son. Died a couple years after she took the throne."

"So why does she rule instead? Is it because of the curse?" Once she started, she couldn't stop. Every answered only opened up more questions. Thankfully the Prince didn't seem to mind and answered patiently. If she wasn't mistaken, it seemed as if he was enjoying the conversation.

"Well, partially," he said. "How much did you learn about our history in school?"

She shrugged. "I remember a little bit about a previous family, but the way I was taught was they all died, and so Queen Abigail was some distant relative who took over. Everyone was very hush-hush about it. They didn't explain the whole story at school, and there were no books on it in the library."

"I guess our family was careful not to let the truth out."

"Was the previous family yours?"

He nodded. "My mother died in childbirth and my father fell ill. Shortly after he died, I was supposed to assume the throne. But then the enchantress came and, well, that threw everything down the drain."

"So Queen Abigail took over," GoGo realized.

"Yes, she's the one that sends the food and supplies over."

"How come you didn't want anyone knowing about the curse? I mean, I can somewhat understand why. But couldn't someone in the kingdom find a cure?"

"Lord, what good could come out of it? People might start panicking about enchantresses. Enemy kingdoms could find a way to take advantage of this. Besides, my father wouldn't have liked it."

GoGo nodded. She still thought someone could possibly find a way to break the curse, but he had his reasons. "How old are you?"

He laughed. "Well, if you want to get technical about it, twenty-nine."

If she'd been drinking, she would have spit it out. " _Twenty-nine?_ But you... You don't come off as that old."

He kept chuckling, and she couldn't see what was so funny. "I was nineteen when I turned, but the enchantress held our ages in standstill. We haven't aged in ten years. And you can clearly see it when you talk to my brother."

The cup. He certainly hadn't matured in ten years. "Will you be same age when you turn back?"

He paused. "Yes, I suppose so."

When he came to a halt, GoGo wondered if she'd offended him again. She peeked over his shoulder and found large wooden doors with lion carvings in them. The Prince placed his squeaky hand over the brass knob and pushed the door open. Laying before GoGo's very eyes was a grand vision of colossal shelves crammed with endless books. In the center of the library rested a low table cluttered with books, papers, measuring instruments, and an inkstand.

GoGo's jaw dropped, and she slowly spun around watching everything in awe. "This is all yours?" she asked in a low whisper, as if it was all a precious secret.

The Prince chuckled. "I didn't think it would be such a surprise given I own a castle."

"There's just so _many_."

He waddled over to the table and sat on the maroon carpet, gesturing for her to sit on the other side. "Sorry for the lack of chairs. I'm usually the only one in here."

That was hardly a problem. Gladly, she plopped herself on the other side, crossing her legs and slouching as she peered over the papers. "What are these?" she asked.

"Nothing much," he mumbled, grabbing them and shuffling them into one neat pile before tucking it away in the corner. "Enough about me. I'd like to know about you."

She frowned. "Me?"

"I don't know if you've noticed, but this is the most talkative you've been since you got here."

Huh. Strangely enough, he was right. In fact, she never recalled talking so much even at the village. But in an enchanted castle, anyone was bound to have a flood of questions. She still had more, but perhaps he grown tired of answering every one. "Okay. Shoot."

He cocked his head to the side. "Is your name really GoGo?"

She snorted loudly. In the library's huge space, it echoed. "No. It's a nickname the villagers gave me."

" _Oh_. Because I was wondering - why do they call you that, anyway?"

"Because I rush home when I'm grocery shopping." Or she used to, but she didn't say that aloud. "They sometimes call me GoGo Tomago because they messed up my surname, too."

"So what's your real name?"

"Leiko Tanaka. But I don't care if you keep calling me GoGo."

His eyes fell to the inkstand. "That's a pretty name."

"Er... thank you, I guess."

"What's it like out there?"

"The forest?"

"The village. Everything out there."

"Why do you care?" She crinkled her eyebrows, coming to a sudden realization. "When was the last time you set foot outside this castle?"

He gave it some thought. "Well, we certainly never left after we were cursed. But even before that, very rarely. Father never let me go to any of the villages - he said they were for peasants. Mostly we visited the neighboring kingdoms or homes of council members."

GoGo was taken aback. Why should the Prince care about meager peasant life when he had riches and grandeur in his own home? She thought back to her own life back at village when she only left to go grocery shopping, borrow books, or get supplies for her creations. But he was waiting for a response, and so she told him what little she knew since she had never traveled the seas or even outside her little town once. She told him about her aunt's bakery first, which always smelled of fresh baking bread, and the demanding customers. She spoke of the bustling town, always crowded and gossiping about trivial things.

"Most of the time they gossiped about just any little peculiarity, but sometimes there were people who really were... odd."

"How so?"

"Well, there was this one girl Belle. She was pretty, I suppose, but one time she got a book and the first thing she did was sit down to read to a bunch of goats who ate the pages and she didn't even care."

But her most favorite places were the library and the pawn shop. The library was of course pathetic compared to this one, and the pawn shop might have bored anyone else to tears. To her, however, they were places of endless wonder and imagination. The ideas she'd drawn from a single glance in there! The things she could create with such tools, even if the other villagers thought they were just junk.

"That sounds amazing," the Prince said.

"This library by far is more impressive," GoGo dismissed.

"Not the library - all of it." He rested his arms on the table and leaned in, eager to hear more. "The bakery, the market! The hunters!"

"It's so... mundane."

"It's like nothing I've ever dreamed of. Do you know what I'd give to be in your place? Just once? Er, as a villager, that is."

GoGo stared at him as she had done the first time she laid eyes on him. Here was a prince with everything he could possibly ask for (save the curse), and he would give that all up to be a meager peasant? What kind of water were they drinking in this castle?

"Why would a prince want a peasant's life of all things?"

"Well... there was no expectation for me other than to become King. Everything is set for you."

"Oh, how wretched."

"I didn't have a choice in anything. Not my lessons, my schedules, my clothes... not even my own bride." He let his eyes wander to the books, tucked neatly into their spaces. "Before the curse... I often looked out the carriages and watched village children playing with one another. My brother was the second son, so he was free to do as he liked - at most he'd marry another princess for the sake of some kingdom alliance. But villagers... you're free to choose what you want to do with your life. You can spend all day in bed if you'd like, choose who you'd like to marry, and live simply without the fate of the kingdom resting on your shoulders."

The peasant girl watched him intently, processing all this. She recalled all those moments she complained to her aunt of wanting to escape village life and do something more. She hadn't considered imagining greater things was a type of freedom. Prince Tadashi would escape ruling a kingdom to live the simple provincial life she despised. She could have laughed at the irony.

Something else hit her then. "You're not too concerned with breaking the curse, are you?"

"What makes you think that?" he asked a bit too quickly.

She frowned. "You give me all that whining and don't expect me to suspect a thing? I may be a peasant but I'm not stupid." She traced her finger in a crack along the table. "The curse gives you an excuse to shy away from all those... kingly duties. Wouldn't want a broken spell to get in the way of that, would you?"

The Prince took a sudden interest in his fat fingers, squeaking them together nervously. "You won't tell any of the servants, will you?"

Aha. "No. Not very interested in palace gossip."

Still he avoided her gaze. "Thank you."

She shrugged.

"You're not entirely correct, though."

"Oh?"

"I can't leave the castle in this form. So in a way, I'm still trapped, and I've dragged all my friends along with me."

...

GoGo awoke before Honey Lemon could charge in announcing breakfast. Groggily, she slipped into one of her new dresses (the wardrobe, it seemed, forbade black) and picked up Honey Lemon as soon as she arrived, sparing her the trouble of having to hop all the way down the stairs.

"You ever think of an easier way to bring the others upstairs instead of making them hop all the way?" GoGo asked the Prince over the meal.

"I did propose it in the beginning," he answered. "But they insisted against it since they believed the curse - " He cut himself off.

She decided not to push the matter. "Well, it's been ten years and quite frankly I don't really care for carrying a bunch of ornaments up and down the stairs. We live in an industrial age, after all."

"I haven't gotten much word on new developments."

"No? Well, I have a new one in mind, _Your Highness,_ and you wouldn't want your guest bored out of her mind, now would you?"

...

The guest clarified later on that her idea was very basic and still had holes, but it intrigued Tadashi nonetheless and made him question what other advancements had occurred in his decade-long absence. After fetching long rolls of paper and plenty of pens and measuring instruments as per her demands, she had rough sketches mapped out for him in the library.

"I'm afraid there won't be room for anything too big," she murmured, "and since installing anything steam-powered will take too long, we'll have to go manual..."

"Interesting. What's it called?" Tadashi asked.

"I haven't thought of a name yet, really." She frowned. "A lifter?"

"I'll send a letter to my cousin requesting supplies, and then we can - "

"We?"

"Well, I can't have my guest laboring on something for the castle herself, can I?"

"I'll do fine," she snapped.

"Maybe. But two people can get the job done faster."

She mulled over this. "All right. But you let me handle the details."

Tadashi stifled a laugh. "I'll keep that in mind."

The two spent most of the week plotting and detailing the contraption in the time they waited for the materials to arrive. That Tadashi had his own calculations and suggestions to contribute surprised GoGo, which he attributed to his long hours spent reading in the library. When at last the Queen complied to their request (the deliveryman was quite surprised for a young lady to pick it up as opposed to leaving it at the gates for once), GoGo took direction while Tadashi followed her instructions.

The first few days, she scrutinized his work every minute, wary of his ten-year absence from society and the advancing world. Luckily he was a fast learner, and later on her leering eyes only lasted seconds before carrying on with the next instruction. She was a strange girl, Tadashi decided, but he'd wait until the end of the project to make any judgments.

"Whatcha making?" Hiro asked as he retired to his room one night.

"She asked me not to tell." _Threatened_ was probably a better word, but still.

" _Ooh_ , keeping secrets already? You're fast!"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Don't play dumb, brother."

"It's not what you think."

" _Yet_."

"We're just..." He tried to find a good phrasing. "We're just friends for now. We'll... take it slow, all right?"

The younger brother sighed in exasperation. "Well, don't take _too_ long. I'd like to get out of this body before the last petal falls."

Tadashi didn't respond.

...

"Was this really necessary?" GoGo grumbled, crossing her arms and glaring at the cloth draped over a box half their height.

"It's not often they get gifts," Tadashi said, "and Honey Lemon and Fred love dramatic flair."

She rolled her eyes, but decided to humor him. They waited for the smaller servants to arrive, and out of the corner of Tadashi's eye, he noticed the shock registering in GoGo's face at the sheer number of them. It was lucky they were all small enough to fit into the room, but she'd probably never had a worker in all her life, much less an entire legion of them.

"Well, we don't have all day!" a dish snapped.

"Harold!" chastised a bowl.

"GoGo's built something for you," Tadashi announced.

"Not all of it," she mumbled.

"What is it?" Hiro asked.

"She's noticed how you have a harder time scaling the stairs than the larger objects, so..." Dramatically, he pulled the cloth off to reveal a box with cogs and wheels attached to a wire.

"A box?" Wasabi said, raising an eyebrow.

"It's... lovely," Honey Lemon said awkwardly.

"Hop into the stupid box," GoGo commanded, pointing at it.

Without question (and looking slightly terrified), Honey Lemon, Hiro, and Fred obeyed. GoGo gave a two-fingered salute to the coat hanger at the balcony of the second floor, who saluted back and pulled at the wire. To everyone's wonder, the wheels cranked and spun and the box lifted to the second floor with ease.

"Come try this out!" Fred yelled to the rest of them below. "It's like magic!"

Almost instantly, a line had formed to try this nifty creation, and some children were rushing back down begging for another turn. Some of the others thanked GoGo vigorously, to which she refused eye contact and mumbled something like, "Whatever" in return. Tadashi had to chuckle.

"What's it called?" Hiro asked eagerly.

"Er..." GoGo scrunched her face. "I thought about elevator. Like... elevate... er. But that's too complicated."

"Let's just call it 'the box'!"

"Fair."

"How are you going to operate it?" Wasabi pressed.

"Jack will be in charge of lifting," Tadashi explained.

While the rest of the servants continued taking turns on the box, Tadashi glanced at GoGo, who kept silent as she sat at the foot of the stairs watched her own invention operate. With squeaky footsteps, he waddled over to join her.

"You did an amazing job," he said.

Like with the others, she refused to look at him. "You built half the thing."

"Not the blueprints. That was all you."

"You threw in a few good ideas. I can't take all the credit."

"Fine. Half and half. Fair?"

She pressed her lips together before nodding. "Fair. I think this is the most fun I've had since I got here."

Pleasure swelled up in him just a little. She'd gone from not hating him to actually having fun in the castle. And if she had fun, she could actually like him. And if she could like him, she could perhaps...

Too soon. Too soon to thing of such things, just enjoy the moment, the Prince told himself.

"If it makes you feel any better," Tadashi said, "I'm glad you came."

Her cheeks tinged pink.


	6. Something There

**A/N:** Nope, I'm not dead. In a manner of speaking. School and work have just drained the life out of me, but I'm not giving up on this fic just yet and found just enough time to finish the next chapter. Really sorry about the long wait, but thank you for your patience and kind reviews as usual!

* * *

Tadashi allowed GoGo to visit the library whenever she pleased, sometimes leaving in tools or objects for her to tinker with. Before she knew it, the castle began receiving material shipments by the week and every hour there was some new contraption running amok if not blowing up parts of the castle entirely. As much as the servants wanted to complain (Wasabi the most), they dared not risk halting the relationship blossoming between them. Occasionally Prince Tadashi would pop in and they'd excitedly discuss which parts of the castle needed upgrades or what impossible thing they could make possible. As reluctant as GoGo was to admit it, it was far more convenient to live here than in her little village, where she could freely express her ideas and even carry them out without ridicule. She even had a friend, a _real_ friend she could talk about theories and engineering and her favorite books with.

"Could you read it again?" Tadashi asked, eagerly peering at the book on the table as he scooted his seat closer.

"You already read it once," GoGo said, playfully flicking his forehead. Her finger bounced off the rubbery white skin and she reminded herself not to do it again.

"It sounds nicer when you read it."

Rolling her eyes, GoGo gently smoothed out the pages and cleared her throat. "O, be some other name! What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other word would smell just as sweet." Her eyes flickered to Tadashi for a moment. "Are you sure you wouldn't rather read _Twelfth Night?_ "

"Do you not like _Romeo and Juliet?_ "

"I don't like this part in particular."

"Why ever not?"

"They're whiners," she grumbled. "And everyone for some reason keeps thinking 'Wherefore art thou Romeo' means 'Where are you, Romeo?'"

"But she's actually asking ' _Why_ are you Romeo?'" Tadashi added.

"Exactly! She's asking _why_ he has to be Romeo Montague and why he can't be named a non-Montague for the sake of their stupid hormone-induced relationship! Romeo is _unbelievably_ shallow, you know."

"I like this part."

"You enjoy whining?"

"No, I just find Juliet's reasoning interesting."

"It's wishful thinking. Obviously they wouldn't have to axe themselves off if he weren't a Montague."

"I understand what she's saying, though. The title of Prince is just a title. I would still be the same if I weren't Prince Tadashi, wouldn't I?"

"I hope you realize a flower and a person - or whatever you are - are two different things," GoGo reminded him. "Of course your title affects who you are. Say you grew up on the streets. You can't afford to be a prissy nice little flower all the time. You have to toughen up, learn to get practical and survive."

"True, but Juliet isn't thinking of any of that. Just that they'd be free to marry if not for their families."

"Like you would be free to dilly dally around if you were a peasant instead of the Crown Prince?"

Tadashi didn't respond, just stared at her. For whatever reason, that perpetual blank expression irritated to GoGo to no end. What she wouldn't give to punch that plush face and rattle it until she could get some shred of emotion out of him. Well, no, she wouldn't resort to such violent manners. But it was irksome. Not just not being able to read him, but this... _desolation_ all the time, and the fact that she could do very little about it. The irony, that he changed his body but kept his title.

"Well, then, let's switch positions. If you weren't GoGo Tomago, but instead Princess Leiko..."

She thought of herself in expensive dresses and jewelry and snorted. "Do you even know how different I'd be if I were a snooty royal?"

"Not so much. Princesses still have to be trained in politics and other areas because most of them become Queens eventually. And Queens have to run the kingdom and the household among other things when Kings leave."

For the first time, GoGo felt rather stupid. "Oh. Right." She remembered his previous complaints about hard studying and betrothals for alliances. With the weight of an entire kingdom on one's shoulders, anyone was bound to crack. "That's why you're only allowed to marry other Princesses?"

"That, and if you were to marry any villager there's no telling if they've taken advantage of you to usurp the nation's wealth, or if they were some enemy spy."

"Well, then, as Queen, I'd just fund better education for peasant schoolchildren."

"Yeah?"

"And I'd find better ways to mediate between nations, find common ground and make alliances that don't have to rely on marriages or whatever offspring trade-off you have in mind." She slapped the book. "Otherwise you end up with this stupid blood feud. Honestly."

Tadashi chuckled. "You would be a good Queen."

"Too bad about that, eh?"

"You could be if I finished my coronation and you were my wife."

GoGo nearly choked on her own spit, which Tadashi took no notice of. Who was he to speak of things like that so flippantly? "The thought sickens me."

"Of being Queen?"

"Of being your wife." She grinned to show she was joking.

"Well, wouldn't you be a delightful bride."

GoGo slammed the book shut. "Come on," she said, standing up and yanking one of his rubbery hands.

"W-what are you doing?" he asked, waddling as she led him to the door and grabbed a fleece cloak.

She ignored his questions and protests as she brought him out of the library and eventually to the front doors, which she burst open. She gazed at the world outside, resting under a coat of snow. The few healthy trees she'd grown rather fond of had turned barren, and a bitter cold nipped at her fingers. But the snowflakes drifted so delicately to the rest of the white blanket cast over the earth, she almost felt bad about what she would do to it next.

The girl attempted to throw the Prince into the snow, but when he proved much too big and heavy and merely stumbled into the snow, she stomped out in her boots and huddled to the ground.

"GoGo?" Tadashi asked, confused.

"Shh." She held up a finger to keep him from approaching before returning to her task. With freezing hands, she molded the snow into a lumpy ball and grinned mischievously at him. "Hey, Highness. Want to live like a peasant for a day?" Without waiting for a response, she hurled the snowball at him, smacking him in the head.

Tadashi tripped over his feet and plopped into the snow. As he stood up, rubbing his face, GoGo awkwardly lowered the other snowball she had prepared to throw and watched anxiously. Should she not have done that?

"You shouldn't have done that," he muttered.

"I - " Before she could get another word out, she felt a cold, icy smack in the face and nearly stumbled back like the Prince had. When she rubbed the snow off her cheek, she heard laughter.

"That was it?" he taunted.

"That was just a taste!" GoGo shouted gleefully, hastily scooping up another pile of snow.

The game went on for a few more moments, Tadashi finding himself an unfortunately easier target because of his size. GoGo was on the verge of tackling him and declaring herself victor before a small voice chirped, demanding to join.

"Hiro, _really_ , how do you expect to play with no arms?" Wasabi asked as the little cup hopped out eagerly.

"I don't have to throw snowballs!" Hiro insisted. "I'm a master strategist! Wasabi, since you're such a sourpuss, you can join Tadashi's side."

"Hey!" Tadashi cried.

"Ooh, that sounds so _fun!_ " Honey Lemon added. "I call the lady's side!"

"War!" Hiro declared. "War on the kingdom! War on my brethren!"

"That's French for snowball fight!" Fred hollered.

And so it became a war game of strategy and cunning, in which the castle gardens were a battlefield and the Prince and GoGo were the soldiers. Hiro easily took charge as General, GoGo his right-hand woman, and even Wasabi fully invested himself and barked commands at his troops.

"You gotta..." the little Prince whispered behind an apple tree (their base of operations), struggling to think of his next plan, "really catch him off guard!"

"What do you suggest?" GoGo whispered back.

"Urm... surprise me!"

She poked her head out and spotted Tadashi charging in their direction with a snowball in hand. With no further thought, she charged back, hollering a battle cry.

" _YAAAHHH!_ "

Tadashi skidded to a stop just as she slammed her head into his round belly and knocked him into the snow. He lay frozen in shock and at her as she guffawed in his face, prepared to declare victory. It wasn't until he reached out and softly brushed her cloak that she stilled.

"You had snow in it," he said simply.

There was something about his tone. Sweet, almost kind. She, on the other hand, had just tackled him. The wardrobe would have definitely muttered something about "mean, course, unrefined."

"Accept... your...defeat... brother!" Hiro shouted between spurts of laughter. "I... I need to go lie down... Oh, boy."

GoGo was suddenly aware that she was sitting on the Prince and climbed off immediately, standing up and brushing the rest of the snow off her dress. Nervously she glanced at him out of the corner of her eye and tucked her hair behind her ears. He turned to her and waved, and she never hated that blank face more.

She also hated her face warming rather rapidly despite the icy season, and she hated that lurching feeling in her stomach that she'd never felt before. New and a bit alarming. Perhaps it was a new disease and she should ask if there were palace doctors to get it checked. Tadashi, despite his title, certainly wasn't a Prince Charming.

But perhaps, a little voice in her head suggested, there was something in him that she simply hadn't seen.

...

GoGo was acting strangely around him.

Tadashi couldn't quite put his finger on it. She didn't speak to him any differently, nor did she avoid him entirely. But sometimes, when he inched closer to her, she would stiffen a little bit. Or occasionally he caught her sneaking a glance at him when she thought he wasn't looking. It was certainly an improvement from months before when she'd simply shudder at him, but still he wondered if he had done something to offend her. Or could she have started to notice him in... a different way?

It couldn't be. He usually ignored it and went on with business as usual, but then again, she'd never looked at him that way before. It didn't matter much, he supposed. She offered him stores of the world outside and the technological advancements they'd made, and then together they'd work on their next project. The servants love the elevator, and when that was done the seamstresses adored what she'd called a sewing machine.

"I didn't know you could sew," Tadashi mused as they worked on several more sewing machines, as per popular demand.

"I had to get creative with everything, not just mechanical stuff," she said simply as she reached over for one of the cogs. "Peasants have to make a living, you know."

"That's so skillful."

GoGo looked at him as if he'd grown a third eye. "You have the best teachers in all the world and you find _sewing_ fascinating? Honestly, what I wouldn't give to be royalty."

"Well, true. But if one day I didn't have servants, I wouldn't have basic skills to take care of myself or anyone. What good is knowing all the capitals of the kingdoms if I can't cook a meal?"

She set the cog on the table. "If you _must_ know, we don't all sew our own clothes. I picked it up from my mother."

"I thought you called her Aunt Cass."

"My birth mother."

Tadashi became very quiet. He'd always avoided the topic of where her parents were and why Aunt Cass raised her, not wanting to overstep boundaries. But this was the first time they'd ever come up, and curiosity was getting the best of him. "What happened to her, if I may ask?"

"She and my father were killed in a house fire ten years ago. I don't remember too much about it; I hit my head pretty badly during the accident."

Ten years ago. Tadashi thought back to his first meal with her when they had that argument.

 _"What right does that give you to act as if you're some expert on something that happened_ ten years ago?"

 _"Again with the ten years ago? I would have been..."_

Shame overcame him. There she was, continuing the project as if nothing had happened, and here he was wallowing in self-pity all the time. "I'm so sorry."

"It happened a long time ago. I don't think about it much anymore."

"Not just for the accident."

She said nothing.

"What were they like? Your parents."

GoGo fumbled with one of the needles. "My father was a merchant, so I didn't see him often. But when he came back, he always had books and objects from all these other places, like Corona and Berk. There were some really interesting technological innovations, which I suppose is how I got into it. My mother was the one home all the time. She was the real housewife type, but come to think she probably handled all the finances and stuff."

She laughed a bit. "She wasn't a very patient woman. Sometimes when Father went traveling for a long time, she'd tell me to hurry up and get acne so he'd feel bad on how much he missed out on. He couldn't really help it, but I feel like she got lonely."

"Did you?"

She pursed her lips in thought. "Maybe a little, but I was used to it. I only really felt lonely because I had no siblings, but after seeing your brother betray you on the snowy battlefield..."

"Oh, you had to bring _that_ up."

The girl smirked. "I _will_ challenge you again if I have to, Highness."

"So be it. I'll win next time."

She rolled her eyes. "What about your father? Do you miss him?"

The Prince avoided meeting her eyes and fidgeted with his pudgy fingers. "Well, he's my father."

"Is that a no?" Her eyebrows furrowed. "Was he a bad father?"

"No!" he answered quickly. "He did what he had to. As both King and a father. That's it."

She frowned, unconvinced.

"Your parents sounded like wonderful people."

A smile tugged at her lips. "They were. I'm sure they would have been happy for me to be in your company."

...

"Hiro!"

The cup turned his attention away from the rest of the plates bustling around the dining hall with wreaths, flowers, and candles. Tadashi waddled in, apologizing to any of the servants scurrying around his feet. "Hiro, I need your help."

"Oh, Brother," Hiro sighed. "We've already blocked all the exits in case she tries to leave. Just apologize whatever it is you did."

The Prince shook his head. "Unbelievable. First of all, I want you to tell everyone to unblock all those exits. Second, I want to give GoGo a gift."

Nearly all the servants gasped. Hiro's jaw dropped before he leapt off the table and into Tadashi's palms in delight. "Finally! A step forward! And here I was thinking you'd be a virgin forever!"

"Hiro, I swear, I'm going to wash your tongue with soap."

"Right, right." The cup rolled his eyes before he gasped again. "It's almost Christmas! It's a Christmas gift, isn't it?" The two gazed at the walls the servants were lining with holly and candles. Some were caroling already.

"Did I hear something about a Christmas gift for the lady?" Fred asked, hopping towards the Princes.

"Oh, how exciting!" Honey Lemon squealed. "Why not ask Her Majesty for a new shipment of books?"

"No, that's too small," Tadashi said. "I want to do something big, but not... ostentatious."

"That's Portuguese for ostrich," Fred whispered to Wasabi, who groaned.

"Big, big..." Hiro mumbled to himself. "I have the _perfect_ idea!"

Tadashi and the other three followed the little Prince throughout the castle until he stopped, grinning widely, at one of the untouched rooms. "We haven't been here for _years_ ," he said excitedly as his older brother slowly creaked the door open to reveal a grand bedroom larger than any in the entire castle, albeit collected in dust. It wasn't until Tadashi's eyes landed on the oil painting of a stately King with round glasses hanging above the bed.

"Father's bedroom," he whispered.

"Well, Dear Old Dad isn't around to use it anymore," Hiro said. "You should've seen how fascinated she was by that other teeny room we gave her."

"Oh, but... this is His Majesty's room!" Honey Lemon protested.

Neither of the Princes responded. Wasabi tapped her handle. "We ought to leave," he said in a low voice.

When the servants had hopped away with sad glances and sighs, Tadashi lowered his palm for Hiro to leap into. "Are you sure about this?" he asked.

"Look, Brother," Hiro said sharply, "I know there's some deal about _preserving his memory_ or something, but we can always move this stuff into a different room. Like the library, where people actually visit." He glanced at some old books lying on the bedside table. "He always left things behind to collect dust. This way we can actually put it to use."

Tadashi gently patted the cup's rim. "Look at you, using that big brain of yours."

"It _is_ a big brain, isn't it? Such a shame Father never noticed."

The elder Prince snorted. "Well, I'm noticing in place of him now. Get used to it, Brother." He scanned the room some more. "Although... I have a better idea of how to use this room."

Hiro perked his eyes up. "Oh?"

...

"No peeking!" Tadashi insisted as he led a blindfolded GoGo down the hall. Hiro, resting on his shoulder, snickered.

"I'm not going to the dungeon, am I?" she asked suspiciously.

When they reached the room, Hiro whispered fiercely, "Now, now, now!"

"Open them!" Tadashi said.

GoGo pulled the blindfold off just as Tadashi pushed the door open. Upon seeing what was inside, she gasped. Significantly larger than her own bedroom, there was a desk set in the back lined with pens and notebooks. Boxes lay among the walls filled with huge scrolls and various tools, metal scraps, wires and other sorts of material. There were endless shelves and cabinets, and in the very center rested a little table with a sweet roll on a platter.

"It was the most we could do in such a short amount of time," Tadashi said hastily, "but..."

"Is this..." GoGo gasped, "a workshop?"

"Oh, good!" Hiro chirped. "We spent _centuries_ on it!"

"It's yours," Tadashi added.

She turned back to stare at him, mouth hanging open. "You did this for me?"

"It's your Christmas gift," he explained.

Within seconds, GoGo yanked Tadashi in with such force Hiro nearly flew off his shoulder before she caught him. She pulled the two in close, one hand holding Hiro and the other wrapped around Tadashi as she buried her face in his chest.

" _Thank_ you," she murmured. "I love it."

Seizing the opportunity, Hiro declared, "It was Tadashi's idea!" and winked at his brother before leaping to the carpet.

Tadashi was about to protest, but by then his brother had already hopped out the door. Instead, he wrapped his arms around the girl and thought to himself perhaps there was something there that wasn't there before.


	7. Tale As Old As Time

**A/N:** Ahh, finals are finally over which means I have time for an update! Thank you so much for being patient and continuing to follow this story!

* * *

While the Christmas gift had certainly been a large stepping stone, nothing much had happened in the months since. Sure, the two spent disproportionate amounts of time in the workshop, but did any puckering noises or flirtatious giggles ever emerge? Did anybody hear questionable moans? No, and no again! The servants were getting anxious. The rose in the west wing was slowly losing its petals and had precious few left.

"At this rate we'll never get our bodies back!" Wasabi cried desperately. "I'm doomed to hop around forever!"

"Come on, my man! You can't think like that!" Fred said. "There's still time!"

"And it's not like _nothing_ has happened," Honey Lemon added. "Oh, haven't you seen the way he gazes at her? The way she blushes around him? It's so romantic!"

"Yeah, yeah, romance, blah, blah," Hiro said. "We're definitely onto something, but we need to really _push_ it."

Other servants joined in until they made a list of possible options, approving some and rejecting many.

"We are _not_ pushing His Highness off a cliff, Fred," Wasabi said firmly.

"But my man, imagine! She realizes in that moment how much she loves him!"

"Whoa, did not expect that from you, Fred," Hiro said.

"And her realization causes her to gain superpowers—"

"Ah. Never mind."

"What if we anger him?!" Wasabi burst. "Do you remember what almost happened when he yelled at her over their first breakfast together?"

Everyone suddenly silenced. Yes, they did. They remembered the faint red glow in his body. Wasabi coughed awkwardly.

"It's been five years since the last incident," he mumbled. "And I do hope it's the last."

"You boys just leave it to me," Honey Lemon said with a wink.

...

GoGo winced as the coat rack jerked at her recently washed hair too hard as she tried to brush it.

"That hurts!" GoGo yelped, gripping at the towel wrapped around her chest.

"Sorry, dearie," the coat rack muttered inattentively. "Goodness, your hair absolutely does not have to be so short! And mussy! Really, the young women these days..."

"My hair's _fine_."

"Do try to be gentler, will you?" Honey Lemon suggested to the rack, who threw the hairbrush down in frustration.

"I don't understand. We've had thousands of dinners. Why is this one so special?"

"Because I want to try a makeover just once! You've never let me."

The girl rolled her eyes, but she went along with it. It was true, the teapot had wanted to "beautify" her since her arrival and she'd likely never hear the end of it if she didn't give her at least one chance. And the servants had not made a peep of complaint with all her contraptions running amok, despite having every reason to, so it was only fair.

The coat rack sighed as she adorned the girl's unfortunately short hair with a golden flower. "That will have to suffice. Oh, if only it were longer, I would have loved to do a bun again. I haven't in years."

Ten years, ten years. Sometimes GoGo forgot (shamefully) that they had been human once, and just how long they'd been in these forms. She couldn't imagine it. She wondered what Honey Lemon had looked like as a human. Perhaps she had enjoyed dressing up once and could now only live through her.

"Lift your chin up, dear," the rack instructed. "I need to do your lips."

"She has such naturally pink lips!" Honey Lemon exclaimed. "She's got lovely eyes, don't you agree?"

"Lovely face, really. Shame she doesn't dress up more often! The amount of suitors you'd have in a heartbeat. I expect she had at least some admirers back home."

She wasn't used to hearing these things except from Aunt Cass, who didn't have a shred of meanness to anyone. No, more often she heard about how strange she was and occasionally a jab at her orphan status. Hearing compliments from others felt... weird. But not in a bad way.

"Oh—Oh, now," Honey Lemon stammered upon seeing her face. "You're very pretty as you are without make up, we just meant—"

"I'm not offended," she said simply. And she wasn't.

"It's done anyway," the coat rack said hastily. "Ah—the gown?"

"Ooh, I've been waiting for this!" the wardrobe squealed, thrusting her doors open. Whatever dresses she'd had previously had been thrown out, or at least stashed away somewhere, leaving only the most gorgeous golden gown GoGo had ever seen.

"Go on!" the wardrobe encouraged, beaming at GoGo's hanging jaw.

Delicately, GoGo traced her fingers down the skirt, a soft chiffon. "Did this belong to someone?"

The teapot shook her head. "No. But I was one of the seamstresses here—I had hoped to try it out on the Prince's future bride, a proposal gown or such, but..."

The girl immediately retracted her fingers. "Oh, no. Something this precious, I couldn't possibly..."

"Please! It would mean so much to me."

Cautiously she slipped into the gown, which somehow felt nicely. Honey Lemon must have expected a bride as short as her, because the skirt didn't drag along the floor, nor did the sleeves hang too loosely off the shoulders. A mirror waddled out, and when she caught her own reflection, she didn't recognize it.

"You look beautiful, dear!" Honey Lemon squealed. The other servants nodded vigorously.

"I don't look like me." She touched the glass gingerly.

"Oh, darling, haven't you ever been dolled up before?"

"I've never really had a reason to look nice before," she said in a low voice. Secretly she suspected Aunt Cass may have wanted to bring her to a ball or a party, but she'd always been against it. She didn't care for the villagers and their gossip, but quite frankly she just didn't want to hear cheap shots or even more remarks on how strange-looking she was. Of course it didn't really matter anymore, but she was now realizing her aunt wanted her to forget all that for a moment and just enjoy herself. Now they would never have the chance.

"Well, might I say... you're the loveliest thing to have set foot in this castle for a long time." Honey Lemon smiled gently.

She managed a whisper. "Thank you."

...

"Was the bath really necessary?" Tadashi groaned, rubbing his increasingly squeaky fingers together. "I haven't forgotten how to bathe, you know."

"But what if you missed a spot?" Wasabi asked. "And you walking naked everywhere! Coating yourself in dust! I at least make sure to polish my face every now and then—"

"Yeah, can't have you looking like a ball of dirt tonight," Hiro added. "We just want to try out this nice evening, like, um, some dress up event..."

"I know what you're trying, and for the last time, she just sees me as a friend," Tadashi insisted. "I won't have you call me dirty _and_ stupid in one night."

"You're not helping with the cause here. Just put on the damn outfit."

The wardrobe swung his doors open, revealing a familiar blue suit. The Crown Prince froze at the sight.

"Father," he whispered.

"Honey Lemon fixed it since you got bigger," Fred explained. Wasabi jabbed him.

Hiro hopped closer to his brother. "He would have wanted you to have it. He wanted you to have everything."

"Hiro."

"What? Don't act like it's not true. I'm sorry, but it is."

"Can the rest of you leave, please?"

Without question, everyone scurried out of the room, and the wardrobe left behind the suit before following them. Tadashi then scooped up his brother, who looked away defiantly, and brought him to his face.

"Father did care about you."

"Not as much as you. Future of the kingdom of everything."

"I won't disagree."

This caught Hiro by surprise. He stared at his elder brother, unable to respond for the first time.

"He was a good King. He knew what he had to do to keep the kingdom running, but you know what? He cared about that more than his own sons."

Hiro bit his lip. "But... you said to GoGo he wasn't a bad father."

Tadashi felt it again, that heat in him. No, no, he had to diminish it. But the memories of their father... "That doesn't mean he was a very _good_ one. He didn't pay enough attention to you. Sometimes he never even let me _see_ you, because teaching me to run the kingdom came first."

"I knew it. He always gave me that weird look every time I tried to go to your room." The younger Prince huffed. "I just... I didn't mean what I said earlier. I mean, he didn't exactly give you the easiest time either. I liked just hanging around sometimes."

Tadashi swallowed as the fire died down. "Yeah. I know." He set his brother down on the table and picked up the suit. "Let's at least try to have a nice evening."

"For the record, I think you'd make a vastly better King than him."

"Or I'd turn into him." He slipped the coat on and adjusted it, looking at himself in the mirror. GoGo's voice echoed in his head.

 _"The curse gives you an excuse to shy away from all those... kingly duties. Wouldn't want a broken spell to get in the way of that, would you?"_

Tadashi had absolutely studied enough to know how to run a kingdom and even aided his father in some of the lawmaking and conquests. Governing would not have been a problem. What governing and ruling would have done to him, however, his very being, as it had his father...

"I'd rather stay cursed than let that happen."

...

If not for the gloves, GoGo would have felt the sweat in her palms. She took deep breaths as she took small steps down the stairs, emerging from the shadows. The Prince gazed at her once again with that unreadable expression (curse his stagnant face) and did not tear his eyes away as she inched closer to him.

"I-it's a little much," she dismissed, keeping her eyes steadfastly off him.

"N-no, it's perfectly fine! I mean, it's not—would you like to eat dinner?"

If only he had a human face! Was he just too nice to tell her she looked ridiculous?

Dinner was silent, as both awkwardly sipped their broth, unsure of what to say. She wasn't sure why. She almost wished she hadn't dressed up, because they might have been able to talk comfortably about some new idea or book series otherwise. Some other part of her also said that this was ridiculous and that dresses and makeup shouldn't change anything.

But it wasn't the dress. Something about her, ever since the snowball fight...

Distantly, a piano played. String music soon followed, and when she turned, she found one of the coat racks playing a violin. Something about the tune felt familiar, and she soon realized it was a song played at one of the weddings Aunt Cass had catered. She turned to the Prince, who was fiddling with a fork.

Without words, she rose from her seat and walked over to tug at his hand. Tadashi rose immediately and followed as she pulled him to the castle ballroom, where a crystal chandelier hung high above them.

"Well," Tadashi said, holding out his hand, "shall we?"

Slowly, she placed her hand in it and gazed at him. She'd never danced with anyone before, but surely if Aunt Cass were here, she would have told her to enjoy herself.

"Good thing you don't have any toes," she joked.

"You'll learn along the way.

From the piano in the corner, Honey Lemon began to sing.

 _"Tale as old as time..."_

It felt odd at first, GoGo clumsily stepping all over the place. However, Tadashi slid his fingers around her waist and pulled her in closer. Her face warmed.

 _"True as it can be..."_

"Just follow my lead," he whispered.

 _"Barely even friends, then somebody bends unexpectedly..."_

Following his lead wasn't so difficult, or perhaps he was a good teacher. Soon enough they were gliding across the room, and she even twirled under him. The sweep, the rushing sensation of it all! She hadn't expected to enjoy it.

 _"Just a little change..."_

At last, they slowed, somewhat just swaying around.

"You look beautiful," he admitted. "Sorry I didn't get to say it before. I was nervous."

She smiled. "Thank you. You..."

"I'm still a giant marshmallow, so you don't have much to say there."

"You know what? True."

He exaggerated a groan, which made her laugh.

 _"Small to say the least..."_

"I mean, this really isn't me," GoGo protested. "So I know it's a bit weird, and..."

"Sheesh, GoGo, I thought we've been friends long enough to not care about that."

"Friends," she repeated.

"Well... yes," he said, although now he seemed hesitant. "We are friends, aren't we?"

"Of course!"

 _"Both a little scared..."_

"Leiko," he continued. "I don't really care what you look like. Well, you like... gorgeous, but God, you're intelligent and honest and kind and..."

"Tadashi."

"I care about you as you _are_ , just like how I know you're not tolerating me just because I'm rich or a Prince or whatever. You're my best friend."

 _"Neither one prepared..."_

Again, that word friend. Some part of it did bother her, and she didn't know _why_ , but for now this was enough. She buried her head in his chest.

"And you're mine."

 _"Beauty and the Beast."_

...

The weather had warmed considerably, and GoGo could swear she could see flowers springing in the garden. She heard ripe red apples hung from the branches in the forest, which fascinated her. Most of the snow had melted away by now, and all she wanted to do was enjoy the sunlight.

"Hiro," she called from the front door, "let's go!"

"Right with you!" he called, hopping into her palms. "Tadashi and the others never let me go out."

GoGo laughed nervously. "Well, I didn't exactly _tell_ them we were going out."

Hiro frowned. "You sure we won't get caught?"

"Come on, it's just apples. We'll say they fell into the yard. They taste best ripe. Besides, it gets _suffocating_ in there sometimes." She must've explored the castle three times, she'd been there for so long.

He didn't protest much, mostly because he was dying to see what the forest looked like for once. He hopped into her palms as she swung her satchel over her head and dashed out into the garden and squeezed past the gates.

They walked considerably far until they reached an entire grove of red fruit dangling from the branches. Eagerly, Hiro hopped up and down on GoGo's shoulder.

"That one! Up on the third branch."

Grinning, GoGo reached for it. Her fingers, however, did not even touch the fruit before she heard a loud snap from behind her. Her hand froze. She heard Hiro inhale sharply. There was breathing too, but not from either of them. And it sounded too... _controlled_ to be from some animal.

Heart racing, she slowly turned her head and found herself face to face with a man. Right away, before any name could register, she knew.

This was one of Krei's men.


	8. Sunfire

**A/N:** Happy New Year! Hope you enjoy the update! and thank you for your reviews as always! (Already have the next fairy tale in mind... sort of.)

* * *

GoGo jumped back so suddenly she slammed into the tree trunk, and one of the apples snapped off and fell into her hand. As she clutched it, the burly man stared at her completely dumbfounded. While she wasn't exactly the tallest girl in her village, this man had to be at least twice her size with the ability to snap her in two if he wished. He also had an axe slung over his back, glistening in the sunlight. Hiro nervously switched glances between the two.

 _All right,_ she thought. _You're all right, GoGo. It's been a_ long _time. Maybe he doesn't even recognize you._ Krei had so many workers, after all. She cleared her throat, praying for the best.

"Well... hello," she greeted anxiously. "I'm—"

"GoGo," the man grunted.

Shit.

She faked a laugh. "GoGo? That's a weird name. I've never heard—"

"The whole village thinks you're dead. Even your idiot of an aunt."

Aunt Cass. A surge of shame swept through her. Perhaps she couldn't help what initially happened, but at that moment GoGo realized there had been days when Aunt Cass, the woman who took her in and raised her, had not even entered her mind.

"GoGo?" Hiro whispered anxiously from behind her hair. "What's he talking about? You know him?"

Thankfully the man did not hear nor see Hiro, but he smirked nastily as his eyes bore into the girl's. Then he roared with laughter. "What luck! I come to scout for more hunting grounds and I find something of _much_ more value. Well then, if you'll come with me..."

As he inched towards her, she had less and less time to think. Immediately she threw the apple directly in his eye and made a run for it as he howled, throwing Hiro in her satchel.

"GoGo!" Hiro cried. "What's going on?! Who is he?!"

"Shh!" she shushed frantically, pressing a finger to her lips as she sprinted. "He might catch us!"

"GoGo!" the man screeched distantly.

The panicked girl stopped talking and kept running. If she could just make it to the castle, if she could just make it to the castle...

She skidded in her tracks as an axe spun above her head and struck a tree trunk beside her, missing her only by inches. The man was not far behind her, and sure enough the distraction was enough to make her lose her balance and trip into the leaf-strewn dirt. The satchel slipped off her, Hiro still buried in it.

"GoGo!" he cried.

As she scrambled to get up, a heavy boot stomped on her back and slammed her down again. She had barely enough time to lift her head until a blunt force hit it and everything turned black.

...

Everything was still dark when she awoke again, her wrists had been tied together and a gag tightly wound around her mouth. Whatever space she occupied was incredibly cramped and only a sliver of light filtered in through a tiny hole, and everything shook and trembled. It didn't take long to piece it together—the man had locked her in the box and was taking her back to the village.

At first, the idea of seeing Aunt Cass again gave her some relief. But if they were going this far just to take her, who knew if she'd ever really see her? And why would they go through such lengths to take her? And what about Hiro? Her bag wasn't with her. Had they found him, and if so, what had they done with him?

 _Stop_ , she thought. _Escape is your priority._

Fortunately for her, Krei's men tended not to be too bright. Otherwise this one would have found cleverer ways to capture her. But still, she couldn't make noise lest he suspect something. She tried yanking her wrists apart from each other, but the rope stubbornly refused to loosen. Then she noticed something funny about it, how it twisted between her wrists. Like a figure eight.

Raising an eyebrow, she pulled harder on one of the sides, but not the other, tightening it. As one side tightened, the other loosened. Elated at the revelation, she kept tugging until the other side loosened enough for one of her hands to slip out. She then untangled the ropes on the other hand and yanked the gag off her mouth.

Success! The question remained as to how she'd get out of the box. She scratched her head, thinking desperately for ideas, until the shaking suddenly stopped. Heart racing, she reached for the gag again, wondering if the man was going to open up the box and check on her. That was when she heard the voices outside.

"What—" the man grunted.

" _Where is she?_ " a familiar voiced bellowed. Very familiar.

No response from the other end. Other voices she recognized very easily frantically cried, "Your Highness!" "Your Highness, please!"

Wasabi! Honey Lemon! The relief was so overwhelming she could have laughed or sobbed, if not for that disturbingly menacing voice. Tadashi. She'd never heard him so angry.

"I'm not asking again," he growled at the clearly shocked kidnapper. " _Where. Is. She._ "

Letting her concerns subside, she banged against the box and screamed. " _Hey! I'm in the box, assholes!_ "

"Milady!" Honey Lemon screeched.

It didn't take long for the box to smash in as she tumbled out, looking back and forth between the wagon, the horse pulling it, the kidnapper, and the giant marshmallow. The sky had darkened, and part of her wondered just how long she'd been in there and how far they'd traveled. Tadashi wasted no time pulling her to her feet and she wrapped her arms around him, shuddering.

"All you all right?" he gasped, checking her body for any signs of harm. "Are you hurt?"

"I'm fine," she said quickly. "How the hell did you find me?"

"Hiro escaped and came back to tell me after you—" His eyes fell on her wrists, where scarlet marks dashed across her skin and bits of blood seeped out. "He burned you."

To be honest, she had not even thought about it. But as Tadashi tore his gaze off her and back to the kidnapper, who grabbed the axe in complete confusion.

"What are you?" he seethed, finding his voice. "A big pillow? You another one of those weird things she's made?"

Tadashi's round eyes flashed bright red. A red glow lit in his body as well, spreading and spreading.

"Tadashi, no!" his younger brother screamed.

"Get away from there!" Wasabi shouted, beckoning GoGo further away from him.

Lost, she staggered over to the rest of the servants as, to her shock, his body engulfed in flames and he roared thunderously. The kidnapper dropped the axe in horror and, as GoGo had, scrambled to get away. He barely had a few seconds before Tadashi leapt and latched onto him as he screamed in agony.

"Tadashi!" GoGo screamed.

"Get away!" Wasabi cried again.

"I'm not leaving him!"

"GoGo, trust me! We _have_ to get back to the castle!" Hiro pleaded.

She hesitated, looking back one last time at the scene unfolding before her. This was not the Tadashi she knew, or had ever known. She turned to the Prince's brother, who begged and pleaded with the utmost desperation.

At last she nodded, and she picked up the servants and ran back to the castle as the screams behind her died.

...

GoGo collapsed to the floor the moment she burst through the palace doors, heaving.

"Oh my goodness! Young miss!" Wasabi gasped, panicked.

"Wasabi! Give her some space!" Honey Lemon chastised.

"Whoa, that was completely fantastic!" Fred shouted. "I mean, completely scary, but absolutely _fantastic_ —"

The two glared at him, unamused. HIro, however, hopped by the girl's faced, breathing heavily.

"GoGo," he whispered. "GoGo, _say something._ "

"What _was_ that?" she croaked, unable to budge. "Why..."

An awkward silence filled the room as the Prince and the servants exchanged nervous glances.

"Was that really Tadashi?" she asked again.

Hiro spoke up first. "Yeah. That was him."

"You know about this? What haven't you people been telling me? Why—"

"What about _you?_ " Hiro interrupted. "Why did that man want you so badly?"

"Your explanation first."

"It's a long story," Wasabi murmured.

"Yeah? Well, I just watched His Highness explode into some... fire thing and attack a man and I already have to deal with this curse knowledge. One of you better start talking!"

"I'll handle this," Honey Lemon said delicately. Then she looked at GoGo somewhat remorsefully, as though ashamed of something. "To be honest... we didn't exactly tell you the whole truth."

"I can see that."

"Will you let us finish?" Hiro snapped, cutting Honey Lemon off. "When the enchantress cursed us, she said she was turning Tadashi into a beast, you know? She said she knew how to get in touch with our deepest fears, and she would curse him to live with exactly that. But he was all big and cuddly for some reason. We didn't get it. It wasn't until within the first week of the curse we talked a bit about our father he..."

Hiro looked away. "I was angry about the curse. I made him angry, _so_ angry that he became... that thing. It was the first time we'd ever seen him like that, and then we realized what the enchantress had been talking about."

"What do you mean? He told me—" GoGo stopped herself, wondering if she was going too far. She swallowed. "I thought he was afraid to take over the kingdom. Or something."

The servants watched on nervously as Hiro continued. "Kind of. He could have handled the kingdom, but our father... our father wasn't the best father. He ignored me a lot. And I used to be mad about it, but he was just _mean_ to Tadashi. More than my brother would like to admit. I guess he wanted the best for the kingdom, but he really screwed him up trying to make him a good King. We weren't allowed to see each other and I remember him just locking him in for a really, really long time. I guess Tadashi was scared to be like him."

"So when he turns into that _thing_..."

"What we're guessing is that it's a manifestation all the anger he has bottled up," Wasabi said. "All the fury unleashed."

"Exactly the thing he's afraid to become as King," Hiro continued. "I think... he doesn't want that to spill out on anyone when he takes over the kingdom. Having to live strictly with no freedoms... stresses and wears out a person. That's what happened to my father. I didn't realize until I really talked to my brother about it, but I—I think he took out all his stress and anger on Tadashi."

His fear of taking over the kingdom. The reluctance to talk about his father. Oh God, things were making _sense_ and suddenly GoGo couldn't understand the person she once thought she knew anymore.

"When he turns into that thing, we call him Sunfire," Wasabi said.

"Sunfire?"

"Fred comes up with all the nicknames."

"Infinitely cooler than Baymax," Fred said proudly.

After a pause, she turned to Hiro. "What did you say?" was all she could whisper. "What did you say to make him so angry the first time?"

Hiro's eyes filled with shame, and they drifted to the floor where he didn't have to face her. "I told him if he'd stepped up to the plate and sent her away and this wouldn't have happened. I said he wasn't a real King and that was why... why our father was never proud of him."

Everything in her ached.

"There's... one more thing we should show you," Fred added. Despite everyone's glares, he beckoned her.. "What? It's not like there's a point in hiding it anymore."

Everyone followed as Fred hopped to the staircases... the staircases leading to the west wing. She very clearly remembered Tadashi warning her not to go up there on the first day, but she needed to know. There was something important they'd been keeping from her.

The room they led her to was dark, not just from lack of sunlight, but from the dull walls and carpets. Only one source of light, tinted red, shone from a small table in the center. GoGo's eyes squinted as she crept closer for a better look. There was a silver mirror lying facedown, but something else too. Encased in a glass cover was... a rose. A skinny, wilting thing whose petals had mostly fallen out with precious few remaining.

"What is this?" she whispered.

"The enchantress gave it to us after she cursed us," Wasabi said. "We have until the last petal falls to break the curse, otherwise we stay this way forever."

"These bodies are just a reminder," Hiro added. "I turned into the cup she drank the tea from."

"I served the tea," Honey Lemon admitted.

She was only partially paying attention to those two. "So... there is a way to break the curse."

"We—" Wasabi began.

"We've told you our part, so you tell us why that man kidnapped you," Hiro said hastily.

"Fine." GoGo couldn't quite take her eyes off the rose, so she watched it as she told her story. "In our village there was this man, Krei, who came every year for some hunting trip. He owns some factories in bigger cities for a bunch of stuff, like textiles or train parts or whatever you can name. He's been trying to recruit me ever since I moved in with Aunt Cass, when I started making things. But I never thought—"

"How badly could he want you to go as far as to kidnap you?" Honey Lemon asked.

"If I'd known, I would've moved out of town the first chance I got! But I don't. And you're still hiding things from me. You know how to break the curse and you're not telling me."

Everyone averted her gaze.

Frustrated, she grabbed the mirror. "Then at least tell me what this is."

"It's an enchanted mirror."

Her head swiveled to the doorway, where a fat white creature stood. They remained frozen in shock as the Prince waddled his way over to the table, still squeaking.

"Tadashi—" GoGo started.

He ignored her. "We can have some glimpses to the outside world through this mirror, but only through people we've interacted with. So really we could only see what was going on with Abigail without actually leaving. It's good for the rest of the kingdom, I suppose."

"Tadashi, stop." She set a hand on his rubbery arm, and he winced at the sight of her rope burns. "I know the whole Sunfire thing."

"You can't possibly know."

She swallowed. "You're right. I don't _know_. I don't know what it's like. What I do know is it's not really you. You're not your father."

"GoGo. I've come too close to hurting people when I was in that state. You see that chip in Hiro?"

"Brother, _don't_ ," Hiro protested.

Tadashi ignored him. "I did that. And it could have been a lot worse. I almost hurt _you_ today."

"You rescued my sorry ass from that kidnapper!"

"Narrowly."

"Still."

"I—"

"No." She stepped closer and stood on her toes to reach his face, which felt smooth and rubbery. "You are who _you_ are. Maybe you're afraid of who you can become, but it doesn't have to be that way."

"GoGo..."

"You're not your father or Your Majesty or Sunfire. You're an idiot who waddles around with this strange fascination for every tiny thing, who likes inventing and insists on being all brotherly to the little Prince over there all the time. You're _Tadashi_. And no matter what name you went by you'd still be you and I'd stay by your side."

He caught her hand as if it would make her stay. "Why?"

"Because I—" Her eyes darted to the other servants in the room, whose eyes were brimming. "Because... you're my best friend."

The others groaned rather unsubtly as Fred yelled, "Oh, _come on!_ " GoGo ignored them, but it was enough to snap Tadashi back to reality.

"What about your Aunt Cass?" he whispered.

"W-what?"

He handed her the mirror, and it never pained GoGo to see that blank expression more than now. "Your Aunt. I know you still care about her and you've been away for nearly a year now. I'm sorry I never let you see this before. I just thought it'd be too—" He shook his head and urged her to look.

Hesitantly, she took the mirror.

"Ask it to show her to you."

Her hands trembled. "Show me Aunt Cass."

Immediately the glass glowed until the image warped into someplace familiar. Her room! She felt a pang in her chest as she looked at all papers, tools, and books strewn all over exactly as she had left them. The image shifted, and she inhaled sharply. Sitting at the corner of her bed was Aunt Cass.

GoGo haltingly touched the glass as she watched her aunt trace her fingers along the sheets. The woman then picked up one of the wrinkled papers on the floor—the ones she'd always nagged her ward to clean up because the room looked like a pig sty—and twitched the corner of her lips as she smoothed it out. Something started dripping on the paper, and within seconds tears were running down Aunt Cass's cheeks.

GoGo set the mirror down, unable to watch anymore. How could she have been so selfish?

"I..."

"You won't have to worry about the man who took you anymore. I took care of him." He stepped away. "Go. I'm releasing you."

"Tadashi—"

"It's all right."

She threw her arms around him and buried her face in his chest. "I'll see you again," she said in a muffled voice. "I promise."

"Don't keep your aunt waiting," he joked. There was no way to make this situation better.

When at last she pulled away, she turned to the servants. "Thank you for what you've done for me."

"Oh!" Honey Lemon cried as she started to sniffle.

Bidding farewell, the girl headed out the door.

"Your Highness!" Wasabi said. "Why did you—"

"She was only ever here because we trapped her here," Tadashi said firmly, looking back at the rose. "I almost forgot that because... I really thought she was happy here sometimes. But it was still imprisonment. And it was wrong. Her aunt still needs her."

"But why did you just... let her go?" Fred asked.

"Because..." the Prince swallowed. "Because I love her."


	9. The Sighting Mirror

**A/N:** Hey, we're at the homestretch. Thanks so much to those who stuck around and enjoyed my story, I really appreciate it!

Re: fairy tale requests, I'm going to tackle the classics first. Some stories I like more than others, so they won't exactly be in order of Disney releases haw haw. (To the person who asked me to do Mulan, I never liked Disney's adaptation of the legend and I'm perpetually bitter about it so who knows if I'll ever touch it.)

Happy reading!

* * *

GoGo wondered why she'd never paid attention to the stables in the castle, but it really wasn't her priority as she raced back to the village. First she had to see Aunt Cass. Then she would go back to Tadashi. And then she'd...

First Aunt Cass.

...

It was midday by the time she'd arrived at the village, and GoGo was about to collapse again from not sleeping a wink. Some people stared, but most took no noticed as her horse galloped across town until she reached the bakery where she dismounted and walked to the door.

This was it. She was seeing Aunt Cass again for the first time in nearly a year. What would she say? Would she be angry? Would she resent her for making the choice she did? She bit her lip and knocked anxiously. The door slowly creaked open as a green eye appeared in the crack. Within seconds it swung open, slamming the bell with such a force GoGo worried it would snap off. Aunt Cass shrieked as she flung her arms around her and nearly crushed her bones. The relief flooding through the ward was indescribable; she could only return the embrace as she fought the tears welling up in her eyes.

"GoGo! GoGo, my baby!" Aunt Cass was crying. When at last she let go, she ran her fingers through the girl's hair and examined her face from every corner. "I can't believe you—how did you—come in, I'll make sweet rolls!" As if it was an afterthought, she switched the shop sign in the window to "closed" and pulled her in.

Immediately the woman took some of the dough and began rolling it as GoGo paced around the store and looked around. Everything was just as she'd left it. Mochi was even curled up on the chair in the corner. GoGo bent down and made clicking noises as the cat stared until it hopped off the chair and crawled around her legs, purring.

"It'll take a while," Aunt Cass said, shoving the pan into the oven as GoGo picked Mochi up, "but you know how..." She threw her arms around GoGo once again, but only for a short while. "You're just as I—How are you? How are you here?"

"I missed you too, Aunt Cass," she said, grinning. "And this is going to sound really... _really_ strange, but those castle people actually aren't so bad."

The woman raised an eyebrow.

"It's a _long_ story."

She looked more closely at her face and shook her head. "Let's hear about it when you get some rest."

GoGo wanted to protest but found she couldn't. Her knees were about to give out, and a yawn deflected any argument she would have made anyway. Slowly Aunt Cass led her to her old room, where she flopped on the bed and snuggled into the warm, soft sheets enticing her to drift away.

...

The sky outside was pitch black when she woke to the smell of cinnamon. When she got to the bakery, GoGo saw the store was still closed. Aunt Cass hummed as she baked sweet rolls until she turned and spotted her.

"You slept in again," she chuckled. "Been sleeping since you got back yesterday, in fact."

GoGo said nothing.

"There's still some left from yesterday. I know they're not as fresh, but..."

The girl walked to the counter where she picked one up and took a small bite. The next thing she knew she was devouring them by the dozen, practically swallowing them whole.

"I see your appetite hasn't changed." GoGo looked out of the corner of her eye and saw her aunt's smile—overjoyed, yes, but crooked, as if she sensed something was wrong and was trying to mask it.

"I just..." GoGo said, barely above a whisper. "I just realized how much I missed these. How much I missed you."

Aunt Cass rubbed her hand on her ward's shoulder, and GoGo began spilling out the entire story, leaving no detail out. Shock pulled at her guardian when she got to the part of Krei's henchman kidnapping her, and when GoGo finished, she slowly backed into a seat.

"I just can't believe..." she mumbled, grasping at her hair. Suddenly her eyebrows furrowed and she furiously stood up. "And that bastard's still running around in this town?! I oughta—"

"Krei's still in town?" GoGo's jaw dropped.

"The nerve of him! He hasn't left me alone since you left! Keeps insisting that I—"

At that moment the door started banging.

"Hide," Aunt Cass hissed at GoGo, grabbing the broom. "Go! It'll do you no good to stay here!"

What other choice did she have? She fled to her room and shut the door, which she pressed her ear against to eavesdrop. But her room was too far back, and the voices were so muffled she could only catch a few words.

"... a million times... here!"

"Nonsense! ... a horse... your door... "

"... _my_ house... you complete... licker!"

When a shrieked followed, GoGo burst the door open and ran to the bakery, where Aunt Cass had been knocked to the floor and Krei grinned smugly. Outside the door, it seemed he'd brought his entire crew. Even some villagers had gathered to join him. Some of them carried torches! What was this? She pulled her aunt up, glaring at him.

"Not here, you said?"

"Get out of my house," she growled.

"GoGo!" her aunt exclaimed. "You weren't supposed to—"

"Finally back after abandoning your old lady, hm?" he sneered, treading closer to her.

GoGo stiffened, but she was not going to back down. She stood firm in her spot as he leaned uncomfortably close to her.

"Tell me, what's this beast you've spent the past year with?"

Her eyes widened.

"Don't be so surprised, young lady. One of my employees barely escaped after trying to rescue you. We all heard the story yesterday."

"You have a very strange definition of 'rescuing,'" she muttered.

"No need to be an ungrateful brat about it. Now you tell me what this monster is, or I'll—"

"He's not a monster!" she snapped.

"Oh?"

"He's a far better man than you are, by any chance."

"He's hardly a man, if the accounts are true!"

"Well, he is! He's smart and kind and gentle—everything _you_ aren't."

Krei stared in shock for a moment before erupting into laughter. "Well, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you were in love with the creature."

A sharp slapping sound echoed throughout the room, and GoGo barely had time to look at Krei's reddened cheek and her own hand before she could process what she had done. Not that she cared. Her face boiled, her breathing had staggered, and it seemed she'd tossed all reason out the window.

" _Never_ call him that again!" she screeched.

Krei was about as stubborn as she was, and twice as forceful. "Why, you—" he started, reaching for her hair.

" _STOP!_ " a tiny voice bellowed.

Everyone glanced at every corner looking for the source until GoGo felt cold china clinking at her heel.

"Hiro?" she asked, bending down to pick up the little cup.

"What—" Krei gasped.

"I snuck in your satchel," Hiro explained, catching his breath. "I wanted to come out but there was never a right time—"

"What are you _doing_ here?"

"I-I wanted to make sure you were coming back," he stammered. "I just don't think Tadashi was right to send you away."

"Tadashi," Krei repeated. "Hiro? As in _Prince_ Tadashi and Hiro?"

Protectively, GoGo pulled Hiro in closer. "Leave, Krei. Or I'll do worse than just slap you." She dropped her voice to a whisper as she turned to Hiro. "We need to get you back. Tadashi probably knows you're here through the mirror—"

"Mirror?" Krei said suddenly. "Did you say mirror?"

"I—"

He stormed in and gripped GoGo by the shoulders, shaking her violently. "Where is it? The mirror! Where did you say it was?"

"You leave her alone!" Aunt Cass screeched, swatting at him with the broom.

Dodging the next swing, he shoved GoGo to the floor and snatched Hiro out of her hands, storming out the door and holding the cup high for the crowd to see.

"This is the sorcery this monster has inflicted!" he shouted. "Burning men alive! Bringing things to life! Who knows how much power this beast holds?"

"Put me down, ugly!" Hiro yelled.

 _People cannot be this stupid,_ GoGo thought as she scrambled to her feet.

"Witchcraft!" a woman cried.

"The stories were true!"

"Let's kill the beast!" one of the men roared. The rest of the crowd cried out in agreement.

 _Oh my God._

"No!" GoGo cried. Hiro! She had to get Hiro back!

But the crowd was already gathering up their pitchforks, raising their torches, and mounting their horses as they followed Krei to the woods. Chants of "Kill the beast!" echoed as they disappeared. Panicked, GoGo started for the stables.

"Where are you going?!" Aunt Cass cried.

"The castle!" GoGo panted. "I have—I have to stop them!"

"You can't go by yourself!"

"But Aunt Cass, there's no one—"

"Sweetie. I understand, but you can't do this all by yourself."

"It's my fault!" GoGo yelled. She bit her lip as Aunt Cass recoiled. She'd never, ever yelled at her before. She opened her mouth to apologize but could only feel her lower lip trembling. "If... if I never came back..."

"Oh." Aunt Cass wrapped her arms around her and pet her hair. "Oh, honey."

Her questions came out in shudders. "You remember... remember when I said... I wanted more than this provincial life? That... that I didn't want to be stuck here all the time? I was wrong." Her voice broke at the last word. "I didn't appreciate life here enough, and I..."

"Leiko." Aunt Cass gently tapped at her ward's chin. "You remember what I said after that? I didn't raise you to be cooped up here forever. Oh, I was constantly worried about you wondering if you were dead but... were you happy at the castle? With... Tadashi?"

The girl swallowed and nodded.

"If you were really happy there, you shouldn't regret it. There's nothing wrong with wanting adventure, sweetie, sometimes it just... comes in ways you don't expect. Just as I didn't expect the best kid in the world."

GoGo wiped her eyes and nodded again.

"Go. Get the horses."

"But you said—"

"I _said_ you weren't going alone. And you're not." Determinedly, she put her hands on her hips and smiled. "Come on. We're saving your Prince."

Lightning crackled.

...

 _BANG! BANG! BANG!_

"Barricade the doors!" Wasabi commanded. "All you big ones, now!"

"Your Highness!" Honey Lemon squeaked from the doorway of the west wing. "They're coming for us! What do we do? Oh, what did you _do_ to that kidnapper?!"

Tadashi kept his eyes on the wilting rose, just on its last petal. Strangely, the fire didn't burn in him at the news the way it normally would have. Perhaps because they were doomed either way—die now or lived forever cursed. Outside, the lightning thundered as rain showered about the castle.

 _Thank God I sent GoGo away, away from all this,_ he thought.

But there were the servants. His friends. If anything happened to them...

"Kill the beast! Kill the beast!" came the echoes from outside.

" _FIRE!_ " Fred bellowed as hundreds of candles shot outside the castle window.

"Let them come in," Tadashi said to Honey Lemon firmly. "It's me they want. I'll speak with—"

"But Your Highness! They want to kill you!" Honey Lemon protested.

He ignored her. "Find my brother and hide him somewhere. Do what you want with the rest. I'll speak to the leader, if there is one."

If they wanted him dead, so be it. But they would not touch the rest of them.

"You heard the man!" Honey Lemon yelled to the rest of the servants. "Get 'em!"

The servant shouted triumphantly as they spread word throughout the castle. It soon became difficult to discern which noises were the servants and which was the lightning. They tossed anything at the mob, dishes and chairs and whatever they could find. A few hurled themselves, taking advantage of their shocked reactions to all the moving furniture. Some, particularly the villagers, screamed and ran away early.

Tadashi turned from the rose, prepared to tackle them himself, until he saw a tall man with a scowl stumbling into the west wing carrying a knife.

"Hello. I am Baymax," the Prince greeted. Seeing the man was not to be humored, dropped the pretense. "Never mind. This is your mob, is it not?"

The man's jaw dropped, taken aback. "You're..." He burst into laughter. " _You're_ the beast? You? This marshmallow?"

"Well, you don't have to be so subtle about it."

His eyes wandered until they fell onto the table with the rose and the mirror. "What... That mirror. Is that..."

Faster than Tadashi could waddle ( _curse_ this form, really), the man dashed over and snatched the mirror from the table.

"This is the mirror, isn't it?" He cackled. "The Sighting Mirror?"

"Put that down!" Tadashi ordered.

"You have no idea how long I've been..." He ran his finger along the edges. "Well, one must test it to be sure, yes? Show me GoGo."

GoGo. This man knew GoGo! It couldn't be...

The mirror glowed as it flashed an image of GoGo's face, panic-stricken and pelted with rain.

"It _is_ the mirror!"

The Prince smacked the mirror out of Krei's hand and grabbed him by the collar. "What did you do to her?!" he shouted.

"W-who, that peasant girl?"

"Answer me! You're the one who sent that man to kidnap her, aren't you? Krei!"

"One of two, I'm afraid," Krei said, eyes flickering back and forth between Tadashi's face and hand. "Now I never _sent_ anyone to kidnap her, but..."

"What did you want with her?!"

"Oh, for heaven's sake! It's not the girl I wanted, you oversized pillow! It was the mirror!"

Tadashi froze. "The enchanted mirror."

"The Sighting Mirror, yes."

"You knew about it."

Suddenly Tadashi felt a stabbing pain in his leg, and Krei yanked himself free with his knife in hand. The Prince gasped as he tumbled over, glimpsing at the blood trickling down to the carpet.

"What kind of monster _are_ you, exactly?" Krei mused. "How did a bald marshmallow successfully burn a man nearly to death?"

"I'll burn _you_ to death," Tadashi threatened.

"I suppose I'll never find out how that works," Krei said, raising the knife once again.

"No!"

Both Tadashi and Krei looked to the doorway where GoGo stood, completely damp from the storm.

"GoGo," Tadashi gasped.

"You!" Krei snarled.

Her soggy skirt slapped against her legs as she rushed to the Prince, collapsing on the floor beside him. "Tadashi—"

"I'm all right, I'm all right," he said hoarsely.

Krei chuckled, twirling the mirror between his fingers. "Oh, really now. You're not as smart as I once thought you were, GoGo, but still quite pretty. Surely you can do better than him."

"This is as far as you'll go? For a stupid mirror?" GoGo snapped.

This time Krei's face turned scarlet. "I've had enough of you playing dumb, girl! Ten years of it!"

GoGo's grip on Tadashi's hand tightened. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Enough pretending! I know you've been hiding this mirror from me all this time, going as far as to hide it from me in this bloody castle! You've been doing your father's dirty work all this time long after he died!"

"My father?" She gritted her teeth. "You knew my father?"

Tadashi felt it, that heat inside him. He could also see waves of confusion across Krei's face, processing everything.

"Your father really never told you, then?"

" _Told me what?!_ "

Krei broke into peals of laughter this time, wilder than before. He had to grip the table to keep his balance. "Oh, dear. Did you really think I went after you all this time because I wanted someone like _you_ in my company? No, child. I sometimes did business with your father, you know. Bought some of the treasures he brought over from the other kingdoms." He stopped to watch GoGo's dumbfounded expression. It seemed once he started, he couldn't stop.

"One in particular I was interested in, however, was the Sighted Mirror. Said to see all kinds of things from all different places! Now, I had known this to be true all my life, and when your father found it, he shared it with me during one of our trades. And of course I immediately proposed an exchange. And he agreed.

"Now, a week later when the exchange was meant to happen, the scoundrel refused. Said someone—some 'enchantress'—came to reclaim it, and he decided to return it to its 'rightful owner.' And the bastard broke our deal. He thought I was stupid, that I didn't know he realized the full potential of this mirror and was just keeping the damned thing for himself. I spent years believing I could squeeze the truth out of you once you came to work for me! And for nothing! And to think, all those years ago I would have just gotten the truth if I hadn't knocked those damned candles over!"

Candles. Tadashi watched GoGo's eyes widened in horror and the realization dawned on him, too.

"My parents died in a fire." Her voice was barely audible. "You..."

"You _really_ aren't as smart as I once thought."

"It was you."

Tadashi heard GoGo's breathing rapidly increase, her fists clenching over him.

"Don't act like he was so innocent."

Like a wild animal, she pounced on Krei and beat at his face, tore at his hair, forgetting he held a knife. Or perhaps she didn't care. The mirror slipped out of his hands and plopped to the floor. It wasn't until, in his struggle, Krei sliced the knife across her cheek that Tadashi felt the fire ignite in him once again. The girl grasped at her cheek in pain as Krei scrambled to his feet.

"Don't you dare test me like that again!" he screamed, pointing the knife at her. "Or—"

The flames ignited inside Tadashi, pressing against his very skin, demanding to burst free. This man was responsible for everything wrong in GoGo's life, for intruding his castle, for endangering his friends. The flames trailed along his body and he walked towards the balcony. Someone gasped, and he looked to GoGo, who still had blood oozing from her cheek. She still seemed furious, sure, but the smallest hint of conflict in her eyes betrayed her. If he hurt Krei on her behalf, she'd undoubtedly feel guilty later. And so would he. This wasn't him.

The flames subsided as he walked closer to the trembling Krei climbing on the railing, perhaps in an attempt to escape, and pointing the knife.

"W-what can you do to me?" he asked, forcing a laugh. "You're a dumb beast."

"I won't hurt you," Tadashi said. "But I won't just let you off the hook."

"S-stay away!" He raised the knife.

"Tadashi, look out!"

GoGo's warning came too late as a searing pain struck Tadashi's stomach. He stumbled and fell flat on his back, clutching his center as if to stop the blood pouring out in gallons. Krei, on the other hand, in hurling the knife lost his footing and tumbled down the many stories of the castle until his figure disappeared in the fog.

"No, no, no, no, no," GoGo repeated in panic as she reached Tadashi and lifted one of his hands to uncover the wound. The crimson blood stained her palms. "No, no, no, Tadashi, stay with me, stay with me."

"You... you came back," Tadashi croaked.

"Of course I came back!" she cried, gripping the knife's handle. The pain surged throughout him and made him want to scream, but he only had the energy to wince. "I said I would... H-hold still, I h-have to take this out..."

Distantly, Tadashi heard clinking from the room.

"What happened?!" a small voice cried. Hiro. "Tadashi!"

"Oh my lord!" followed Wasabi's voice.

"It'll..." Speaking had never been so excruciating. "It'll be fine... You... You're alive..."

"Stop talking like that!" she shrieked hysterically. "I'm going to help you, and—and..."

With all the strength he could muster, he raised a bloodied hand to her unharmed cheek. "Leiko... promise me... you'll go on... on all the adventures you wanted. Be happy."

He couldn't tell if which were raindrops and which were tears anymore. "You were my adventure," she sobbed, pressing his hand closer.

"At least..." Everything was blurry, but he had to speak. "At least I got to see you one last time..."

His hand fell to the ground pathetically, and his eyelids could no longer stay open. Everything went dark, and he could only distinctly hear GoGo's grief-stricken pleas— _no no no no Tadashi open your eyes please don't leave me please please_.

 _I love you._

He could feel himself drifting. The pain started ebbing away, and his whole body felt lighter.

Was this death? he wondered.

A warmth rippled throughout his body. This certainly didn't feel like dying. Every sense felt heigtened; he felt bristles on his head and something light grazing his skin. At last, the floating sensation vanished as quickly as it appeared and he landed on his feet. This couldn't be death. He felt a cool shower, hear sudden gasps, and his body felt... funny.

He dared to open his eyes, which fell on hands. Human hands. His hands! He checked the rest of his body—boots, white shirt, but on human feet and a human torso! He ran his fingers on his head and there it was! Hair!

Delighted, he turned and caught sight of GoGo. A little taller than he remembered, but then again, his beast form had towered everyone. Her face was a mix of emotions—astonishment, confusion, shock, something else he couldn't quite put his finger on.

"GoGo," he said softly, "it's me."

She opened her mouth, closed it, brought her fingers to her lips. She leaned in, peering into his eyes. Suddenly she pulled back and touched his face as if to confirm this was real.

"It is you!" she exclaimed.

A grin split across her face and she threw her arms around him. Ecstatically, he lifted her and spun her around until the two collapsed, laughing. Then, as they lay on the floor, Tadashi turned her face towards his and brushed her hair out of the way. Without hesitation, she closed her eyes and they melded their lips together.

In the sky, a firework set off soon followed by cheers and whoops. When the two pulled apart and lifted their heads, they gasped as the castle shifted colors from a dull grey to white marble. Inside, the rose and mirror had disappeared, but in their place were four people—a short boy with bushy black hair, a tall blonde woman, a big man with a green suit, and a lanky man with shaggy hair.

"Hiro!" Tadashi called, pulling GoGo and himself up. The other four rushed to them joyfully. "Honey Lemon! Wasabi! Fred!"

Wasabi wrapped his arms around all of them, squeezing them into a tight embrace.

"We did it!" Hiro cheered when they all let go. "We're free!"

"You mean _they_ did it, Hiro," Wasabi said, affectionately poking the boy's nose.

"Oh, I thought this day would never come!" Honey Lemon cried.

"I kind of miss my hot flames of fire," Fred mumbled.

Amongst the celebration, Tadashi slid his hand into GoGo's and smiled at her.

"I forgot to tell you," he said. "I love you."

"I think I got that the first time around," she replied mischievously, and she pulled him in by the collar for another kiss.

* * *

 **A/N:** Hey remember when I said I had the next fairy tale in mind well guess the heckle deckle what I'm a liar and a fraud (kind of). I do have another fairy tale AU planned out, but I also have another Disney crossover-ish fic planned out that I want to get to because nut me over sideways I love that movie. I might do the thing where I work on two stories at a time because congratulations i played myself.

Don't worry, there's still one more chapter!


	10. Epilogue

**A/N:** I was this close to calling this epilogue "Suspension of Disbelief" or "Actual Cop-Out" but lbr y'all read this cuz you wanted to see Tadashi/GoGo get it on so who cares

* * *

Strangely enough, after the incident every villager at the castle that day woke up back in town with no memory of what had occurred. But like with anything strange, they chose to ignore it and move on. "Normal" was an agenda everyone seemed content with pushing.

Prince Tadashi took some time to keep up with current events and technology before resuming his coronation. With all records of the Princes hidden in the old castle, the brothers decided to claim they were cousins of the old family ready to reclaim the throne, and Abigail was only too happy to transfer the crown to Tadashi before traveling the world in retirement.

"The crown ages you at least thirty years," she sighed in relief. "Perhaps I'll start with Arendelle this summer! I hear one of their own Princesses is having a coronation then."

No one knew what happened to Krei, and to be frank no one cared all that much. Upon his disappearance the public was quite shocked to discover the appalling conditions the factory workers suffered, and when GoGo presented blueprints for less hazardous machinery it was decided she should oversee future projects. Hiro, it seemed, had a knack for engineering as well and was more than eager to work on the project.

Talk about the King's suspicious relationship with this inventor lady did spread throughout the kingdom—he was quite involved with the projects and spent quite an amount of time with her. Was a new Queen on their hands?

For the most part, Tadashi and GoGo laughed the wildest rumors off. Some days GoGo would split her time between helping at the bakery (which was booming in business) and looking over the factories while Tadashi dealt with all the troubles that came with ruling a kingdom. But on the few days they had time off, they'd discreetly explore the villages or visit the old castle for the sake of it. On one such occasion, Honey Lemon insisted they finish their dance now that everyone was human again.

"I don't know if I told you," GoGo said as they glided across the floor, "that beast form was kind of cute sometimes."

"Is there something you're not telling me?" Tadashi asked, raising an eyebrow.

She rolled her eyes. "There's nothing _to_ tell. Your human form is by far more handsome."

"Hm." He pulled her in closer. "Your everything is beautiful."

And they kissed again.

* * *

 **A/N:** I almost wrote a wedding but I couldn't really think of a place to fit one, so just know from the notes GoGo eventually became Queen.

Thanks for reading and following me through this shitfiction! I have some notes and ideas for the next fairy tale, plus non-fairy-tale-but-still-Disney-movie story, which I hope to get out soon. I've also opened up an AO3 account (leikotanaka) and will but posting the next story there as well.

Toodles!


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